Stuck On Red
by HighKeyMars
Summary: AU: Naruto is a career reserve Genin, never advancing or progressing in life. That all changes when someone is sent to set him up for his future. Naruto is 5 years older than canon, will follow canon plot mostly, but will also have my side stories. There will be Cursing
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **So, I was going through my bookmarked stories, I have like almost 1000 stories flagged in my safari browser for me to read later, and I came across something I hadn't seen in a long time. The Fanfiction called Masters of Genjustu by Tsukune08. It was one of the first Naruto Fanfictions that I read on this site. I was like 12 when I joined, and it was super popular way back in 2011. I remember loading up 3 chapters at a time on mu iPod touch to read that story in school. Unfortunately, I never finished reading in when it was declared done in 2013, around mid-2012 I bookmarked it and focused on trying to not offend every girl in my school by ignoring them for a story. So, I recently reread it, re-fell in love with in, and died of heartache when it didn't get the ending it deserved. Not much I can do about that, but that pairing was one that I liked in 2011 and appreciate now in 2018. So, I will be making my own Kurenai/Naruto story, this is it. Literally, only 2 things will be changed, Naruto is 5 years older. But all of the events that happen to him will mostly be the same, Mom and dad are dead. Kyuubi in the belly. Nobody fucking likes him. He fails 3 times in the Ninja Academy, and kind of just bounces around in the program as a fill in Genin. He's like a spare or an active reserve, he's mostly isn't doing nothing but training.**

 **The second change is Kurenai's age. In the first part of Naruto, she's 27. I already gave Naruto 5 years because isn't no 13-year-old pulling that. So where did I get those 5 years, Kurenai of course. So, she's 5 years younger at 22. Naruto is 17 when this story starts and she's 22. As usual, I will answer any question right away in the reviews or PMs. So, this story takes place when Sasuke and all those other filler characters graduate, so Naruto's plot can continue like normal, you know Zabuza, Chunin exams etc.…**

Naruto was bored, this wasn't anything really new. He was a career backup at this point, filling in for the hurt, never long enough to advance in rank. The longest Naruto could remember being on a team in the last 5 years was like 5-6 weeks. That wasn't long enough for him to take a dangerous enough mission for a field promotion. That wasn't long enough for some team to bless him with a Chunin exam spot either. He was always told that he would be the first to be called, but Naruto really doubted that. He knew that he wasn't seen as anything special and by most accounts, he was a disappointment.

He was 17 years old, but still a Genin. He was the container of the Kyuubi, the walking natural disaster, and he wasn't even a Chunin yet. The only reason that he hadn't been bounced from the Ninja Program all together, was that he was a military asset. He never really had any choice but to be a ninja. Image having a person with the power of a million tons of C4 inside their body, at their disposal, and they were helping you bag your groceries at the store. You and everyone you know would know that he was wasting his power.

So, as Naruto looked up into the sky as he laid about on the ground of the training ground that he was using, he laid bored. He was blinked and suddenly found the sky and sun blocked from his view. Naruto grit his teeth, ready to tear into whoever was getting in the way of his view, when he took in his new view. The new view was better than the old view, as this one was a girl. And there was one thing Naruto was sure of, most girls were better to look at than the clouds drifting in the sky. Said girl just so happened to also be a pretty, no beautiful girl.

She was very beautiful. Naruto could tell this woman just exuded a confidence and grace not found in many women, at least not in comparison to the women Naruto met. Her black hair fell from her head in an almost messy fashion but, for all its messiness, it seemed orderly, almost as if she willed it to follow her demands. He followed the hair down her shoulders, underneath it he could see the wrappings of white bandages with a pattern of something that looked like rose thorns, but he couldn't see any blood stains. He concluded that the woman was using those wrappings as clothing, his assumption was proven correct as he followed her hair to the edges of it and saw that the bandages wrapped around her whole body. However, what immediately grew his attention more than her perfect pale skin and obviously developed body, was her eyes.

The crimson eyes were like magnets for Naruto's own eyes. He couldn't help but stare into them, they were gorgeous to him. The girl blushed as Naruto stared at her like she was a piece of art. She spoke and that managed to grab Naruto's attention.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki? I was told to escort you to the Hokage."

Naruto nodded his head dumbly at her question and as she stopped leaning over him, he jumped to his feet.

"I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage, you know my name. However, I have yet to learn your name." said the nervous Naruto

"Hmm, you want to know my name? Tell you what? I'll give you my name after you meet with the Hokage, as this is somewhat time sensitive." Was her response.

She took a step forward before she looked over her shoulder and gave Naruto a wink. Naruto blushed lightly as she sped off before he took off after her. The duo raced through the village, jumping from roof top to roof top. Kurenai was a little surprised that the career Genin was matching her speed despite her running at high Chunin levels. Naruto didn't even look winded, because with the lack of career success and missions, he was free to train 24/7 in around 320 plus days a year.

They arrived at the Hokage's office door and Kurenai knocked.

"Come in" called out a mature older voice from behind the door,

Naruto opened the door and walked in, to see the Hokage behind his desk, with little amounts of paperwork in sight, never realizing that Kurenai didn't enter, closed the door behind him and slipped away. Leaving Naruto alone with the Hokage and never giving him her name.

"Lord Hokage sir, I was told that you called for me. I came as soon as I was told." Said Naruto as he stood as straight as he could. This was the leader of his village, his boss, and the strongest person in the entire Fire Country, not someone you would want to piss off.

Hiruzen frowned, but quickly hid it from Naruto and he looked at the tall old Genin.

"Well Naruto, I have some news that will greatly affect you. However, I am a fair man, so I will leave it up to you. If you choose to hear what the information and the situation, you'll have no choice but to except. On the other hand, if you chose to decline, I will select another who can just as easy take your place."

Naruto stared at the old man, trying to interpret the mood of the Hokage. Mission that were auto-accepted were generally the type that got you either promoted or dead. Naruto, also knew that he had underachieved so far in his ninja life so far. Eh, what's the worst that can happen.

"Sir, I agree to here and complete whatever this assignment is." Said a somewhat confident Naruto

Hiruzen smiled as he put down his pipe and grabbed a scroll off of his desk, he handed it to Naruto. Naruto stared the scroll before his leader gestured for him to open it up. Naruto unraveled the scroll and saw writing in it.

" _Due to the uneven number of students in the fall 4_ _th_ _year class at the Ninja Academy, we are drawing on our reserves to fill in a spot. However, this spot is not the temporarily fill ins that have occurred in the past. This would be a permanent situation and spot filled. You'll be assigned a Jonin Sensei and a team full of fellow Genin. Congratulations on your placement,_

 _Sincerely, The Third Hokage"_

Naruto looked at the scroll and then back to the Hokage and then back to the scroll.

"Sir, is the information in this scroll correct?"

"Yes, Naruto, it is. I know that you've been a Genin for a long time. You've drifted around, never really finding a team to call your own. I remember almost two years ago, you watch some of you former temporarily teammates go off to Chunin exam and return with their vests. I remember you asking me, why you couldn't take the exam and advance as well. I told you that when the time came for a reserve being needed, you would be at the top of the list. Well, the time has come, Naruto. All of your waiting has paid off, officially, as of tomorrow, you'll no longer be a reserve and will be placed on our active roster. In 1 weeks' time, you'll have to go the Academy and find out your team and Jonin Sensei, but other than that, this is it Naruto. You're dismissed.

Naruto smiled brightly, something the Hokage returned. Naruto turned and left, after all he had new supplies to buy because he was going to be an active ninja.

A week later

Iruka was not an overly emotional or sensitive guy, or at least that is what he believed. However, what was happening before him was something special, because for the first time in his career, he was graduating a single class. Sure, he had been the instructor for a semester or two to a couple of classes who had already graduated, but he just spent almost 2.5 years developing these kids into young adult. It was a proud moment for him, and his unwavering smile made it obvious that he was happy.

"Team 1 …. Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, your Jonin instructor will be Kakashi Hatake, Team 8 is Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame, your sensei will Kurenai Yuhi, Team nine is still in rotation from last year, so moving on to team 10, it will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi, your Jonin is Asuma Sarutobi. Now, your sensei should be here in about an hour, feel free to talk amongst yourselves and good luck."

Iruka turned to leave, but Sakura yelled out to him.

"Iruka-Sensei, wait! You said that team 7 was Sasuke and I, but everyone else has a 3 Genin squad. What does that mean for us?" asked the Pink haired useless girl

Iruka, knowing the truth but also wanting to take his lunch break, shrugged and walked out the room. The newly graduated, but not really, Genin were mostly shocked at being blown off. As soon as the door closed, the door opened once again. However, who walked in wasn't familiar to almost any of the young Genin. The figure was taller than all of them and appeared to be older as well. Their tan skin stood out in the usually pale Konoha, and their sunny blonde hair was unlike any they generally saw around the village. He wore a black track jacket and pants combo, that both had burnt orange running down the sides. His headband pushed his somewhat long and shabby hair out of his eyes and his face had three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

His bright blue eyes were like a whirlpool to the young girls in the class, sucking them in. He smiled at the younger Genin and said, "I'm looking for Team 7."

Sakura waved her hand at the newcomer and he looked at the pink haired girl and made his way over to her.

"Naruto? Is that you? I was napping and all of a sudden, I could smell Miso broth everywhere." Said a somewhat cranky Kiba.

"Hey Kiba, how are you? I didn't know that you graduated this year. Hana didn't say anything to me. I would have brought you something cool, if I had known that." Replied Naruto.

Ino looked at the dog partnered boy in her class and then back at the tall better-looking Naruto and asked "Kiba, how do you know this guy?"

Kiba scratched the back of his head and said, "He graduated the same year as Hana, it was like 4-5 years ago. He's still friends with Hana and he comes around every now and then, he mostly helps me prank her when she's being mean to me." Naruto blushed and rubbed his face to hide the bright red that flooded his face.

"Well, you know what, I only help you because she got promoted before me. I wish I could have gotten promoted less than a year removed from the Academy, but it didn't work out like that for me."

Sakura cleared her throat, drawing the attention of Naruto and asked, "That doesn't answer what you're doing here though. Are you our Jonin sensei?"

Naruto laughed loudly, and everyone looked at the blond ninja. As he calmed down, he looked at the pink haired ninja-hopeful and said, "Me? A Jonin? I wish. I was placed on this team just like the rest of you. I've never had a Jonin Sensei because when I graduated there was 31 kids in my class and I was the old one out. Your class has 26 kids, which is two too many for an even number of teams. So, I'm here to fill in the spot that you guys have."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, trying to size up the older blond. Naruto looked at the last loyal Uchiha and flared his Charka, allowing the dark hair dark eyed boy to feel the ocean that separated them. The rest of the class felt the wave that the blond ninja let out and the room fell silent. Naruto smirked and took the open seat next to the Pink haired girl who edged away from him. Nobody said anything to Naruto after that, although they did talk to each other.

The hour came and went, and before anyone noticed, several figures entered the room. They called out their teams; 1,3,4,5. The called-out teams all got up and rushed out the door, trying to keep up with their new Jonin Sensei.

Naruto looked at the ninja hopefuls leave and had a minor flashback, of his graduation and assignment day.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **A younger Naruto stood in a room, that was mostly empty. The only other things in the room was a desk, two Chunin behind said desk, and 7 ninja headbands laid out on also on said table, as there had only been 2 kids to fail out of the 33 so far, and they still had another 5 kids to go through, starting with young Naruto.**_

 _ **A non-descript ninja in a Chunin standard uniform sat next to another generic Chunin filler character, both of them looking at Naruto. They were a couple of years older than Naruto, something the Hokage made happen to prevent any bias from the Nine Tailed Fox interfering in Naruto's education. What good is a military asset if they aren't an asset after all. So, these Chunin didn't sabotage nor under teach or mis-explain anything to Naruto Uzumaki.**_

 _ **The result, A Naruto Uzumaki that was above average in just about everything. Accuracy- Average, TaiJustu- Above Average, Ninjustu-Average, Mental Abilities- Average, Speed-Great, Stealth- Fantastic.**_

 _ **So generic Chunin number 1 looks at the blond ninja wannabe and says "Okay, Uzumaki, so far you've passed everything. You got an 80 in your accuracy throw, you got a 77 on your go around the obstacle course. You managed to scrape a 75 on your written test. You even got an 85 on your Taijustu exam. All that is left for you to do is perform the 3 standard Academy Ninjustu. If you can do that, you'll be walking out of here with one of these headbands around your head instead of those goggles."**_

 _ **Naruto smirked and said, "There is no way that I don't pass this test, believe it!"**_

 _ **Generic Chunin number 2 smiled at the energy that was flowing of the kid and he said "Okay then, let's get started. First I would like you to henge into any one of the Lord Hokages."**_

 _ **Naruto made a single hand sign and in a burst of charka, he stood before them in a form that left them shocked. Standing where Naruto stood was an adult version of Naruto? The Blonde hair, the bright blue eyes, the tanned skin. The only thing missing was the whisker marks on Naruto's face, and generic Chunin number one realized that this face was a little more angular and thin. Looking at the clothing, the white cloak over the standard Jonin uniform, Naruto was standing there as the Fourth Hokage.**_

" _ **Can you turn around so that we may analyze the details correctly?" asked Generic number 1.**_

 _ **Naruto turned slowly as the Chunin duo took notes on the little details of Naruto's henge. Looking at the back of the cloak, they were pleased to see that Naruto's henged cloak even had the characters that read "Konoha's Yellow Flash"**_

 _ **As generic Chunin number 1 signaled for Naruto to end his Henge, Naruto did and stood in back into the center of the room as a kunai was thrown at him and Naruto didn't move as he was hit by the steel ninja tool.**_

" _ **Poof!**_ **"**

 _ **Naruto had substituted himself with the log in the corner of the room. The second Chunin nodded, the substitution was done without any smoke or hand signs**_

" _ **Now perform the clone Justu for us Uzumaki. We need to see at least 3 healthy clones for you to pass."**_

 _ **Naruto nodded, he had heard that the magic number was 3. The problem that any time that he tried to make less than 50, they would turn out goofy looking and flop to the ground.**_

 _ **Taking a deep breathe, Naruto muttered "Okay, let's do this. Clone Justu!"**_

" _ **POOF!"**_

 _ **The room was now filled with the illusion-based clones. Naruto looked around and counted 42 clones. 8 less than his last batch of passing clones.**_

" _ **Hmm, this isn't some kind of joke, Uzumaki. The number that we mentioned with you was 3. That means that you should have made 3 clones."**_

" _ **Now now, don't be like that, the exact instructions were to make at least 3 clones, if Uzumaki here can accomplish that and more, there isn't any rule that states that he should be punished."**_

" _ **Fair enough, congratulations, Naruto Uzumaki, you have met the standards that are required to enter the ranks of the Shinobi Corps of The Hidden Leaf Village, do you agree?"**_

" _ **Sir, yes Sir!" said Naruto as he gave a somewhat sloppy salute. Naruto exited the room and ran into his previous Chunin sensei, Torika (Tore-E-KA), A standard Chunin wash out. Good enough to make Chunin but had neither the will nor the talent to really go any further.**_

" _ **Now, Naruto, I know that this was your 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **attempt, but – "she didn't get to finish as Naruto flashed her a massive smile and a thumb up.**_

" _ **No need to give that speech sensei, I passed."**_

" _ **You passed?"**_

" _ **You best believe it, after all you told me that they don't give these out to just anyone" Naruto said as he gestured to his headband, one that showed that he had indeed managed to pass the test and become a Genin.**_

" _ **Well, I guess that I should congratulate you, fellow Shinobi Uzumaki."**_

 _ **Naruto smiled brightly again.**_

Naruto was pulled out of his musings by a familiar sight. A raven-haired beauty with brilliant crimson eyes, entered the room.

"Team 8, you're with me … Oh, hi Naruto" said Kurenai as she looked around the room.

Kiba and his fellow teammates had gotten up to follow their sensei, but when she stopped to great the taller blond boy, they remained to see the interaction.

"Oi, do you know are Sensei?" Kiba brazenly asked Naruto

Naruto scratched his chin and said, "Something like that, she knows me, and I am trying to get to know her."

Kurenai glared at the blond and said, "Let's go team, we have somethings to discuss without blond distractions."

"Oh, so I distract you?" asked Naruto

Kurenai didn't answer but just left with her team trailing her. And just like that, one by one, the rest of the teams were picked up. Soon enough, all that remained was Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The silence was killing the girl in the group, so she decided to try and make conversation among the group.

"So, Naruto, how do you know Kurenai?" asked the usele- I mean Sakura.

"Hmm, Kurenai, so that's her name. I know here from around the village, but it's complicated. Wait a minute? How do you know who she is?"

"She's only the most impressive Genjustu Master in the entire Village. They say she's on the par with Ita-, um a previous all-time great ninja from our village." Sakura had stopped herself short of saying Itachi because she knew what rage erupted inside of Sasuke whenever his name was brought up.

"Hey, wait a minute, you know Kiba's older sister Hana, because you graduated with her. You are also interested in Kurenai, a great deal apparently. I figured it out, you're nothing but a pervert!"

That is the scene Kakashi walked in on, his pink haired future student proclaiming that the son of his late, great, sensei was a womanizing pervert and his last student looked like he couldn't care less about anything in the world, let alone the conversation between the older blond boy and his pink haired classmate.

"Just admit it, Naruto. You are just trying to get into her pants?"

"Yeah, sure. I want to get into Kurenai's pants as much as you want to get into the angry avenager over there's pants."

This caused Sakura to blush a deep pink and Kakashi to let out a laugh. The trio of Genin looked at him for the first time.

"Well, then I guess Naruto wants it more than anything else in the world if the scouting report on pinky here is remotely accurate."

Sakura crumbled to floor when Sasuke moved a little further away from her and Kakashi said "My first impression of you guys, is that this is going to be a lot of fun."

Naruto smirked as Sasuke said nothing and Sakura tried to emulate him and also remained silent.

"Okay, meet me on the roof within in 5 minutes" said Kakashi as he disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and then at Naruto only to see that he too burst into smoke as he left in the same manner in as their sensei.

On the roof:

Kakashi was chilling, the building was about 7 stories tall. It would take the new brats that he had received the full five minutes to get up the 7 flights of stairs. So, when a burst of smoke appeared on the roof, Kakashi was a little surprised that Naruto was up here as well.

"Well, you are an interesting one" Kakashi commented.

"What can I say, all that free time and nothing to do, why not train?"

"Can't argue with that. So just how strong are you?"

"Rank wise?"

"Sure"

"I'm probably close to Jonin to terms of speed, definitely high Chunin. My TaiJustu is a little rusty, as without a team, I really didn't have a consistent sparring partner. Ninjustu is a bit better as can use some wind Justu, but the Archives aren't exactly wide open for Genin, no matter how long you've been one. I know how to dispel Genjustu, and that's it. I have way too much charka to even attempt to try and use it on people."

"Hmm, sounds like you've grown into a complete shinobi, but I will be the judge of that myself." Said Kakashi

However, on the inside Kakashi was kicking himself.

' _Sensei, what have we done? To leave your son all alone for so long. If you had been alive to train him by yourself, he would have been a legend by now. He's 17. By the time I was 17, you had me known all throughout the world, and your son has been left to his own devices for years.'_

Kakashi was pulled out of his thoughts by the other two Genin of his team showing up.

"Ah, I am glad that we're all here" Kakashi greeted the trio as they were all finally there.

The 3 Genin all sat down in front of him, Naruto in the middle with the younger Genin on either side of him.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves, as a team, it is one of the first things that you should do." Kakashi instructed.

"Um, Sensei, maybe you can give us an example? You know to show us how it is done." asked Sakura, being the same level of useless as ever.

"Hmm, okay sure. I mean I guess basic introductions are too much for you little Genin, but that's why I am here. So, my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes are none of your business and the number of things that I dislike are too many to count. I have many hobbies, none of which should concern you, and I dream of doing many things. There, is that what you were looking for?"

Sakura and Sasuke sweat dropped and thought ' _All that he told us was his name'_

"Ok, pinky. Since you got so many questions, why don't you go first?"

"Okay, my name is Sakura Haruno. I like *Looks at Sasuke and blushed bright red* and um … reading. I dislike Ino and people who make fun of my forehead. My hobbies are *Looks at Sasuke and blushed bright red*."

"And your dreams?" asked Kakashi, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, my dream is *Looks at Sasuke and blushed bright red* … yeah"

' _Oh my god, girls her age cares way more about boys than training. Guess it is up to me to break her. That'll be fun'_ Thought Kakashi

"OK, you with the brooding face. You go next" commanded Kakashi

"Hn, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't particularly like anything and dislike everything. My hobbies are training, and I don't have a dream for the future, because I will make it a reality, I will find and kill a certain man."

' _Fan Fucking Tastic, I got the kid with a death wish. Itachi could take on the best of us, he would completely wreck this little shit's entire existence.'_ Thought Kakashi

"Well, that sure was super interesting and not at all a reason to concern about your mental health. So, blond-y, it is your time to shine."

"Ok, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like training, fighting, learning new Justu and techniques, and ramen. I dislike arrogant people (cough cough Sasuke cough cough), useless fangirls who think they can actually be ninjas (cough cough … Actually you know what, no cough cough, it's sakura, and everyone knows it. She is about as useful as an umbrella filled with swiss cheese holes in the middle of a thunder storm.) and the 3 minutes it takes to make instant ramen. My hobbies are taking care of my plants, visiting my friends on my days off, training, and trying new types and forms of ramen. My dreams for the future are to become at least a Jonin, try all the types of ramen in the world as well as get one named after me."

' _He certainly grew up interesting. It's a shame that he has ramen on the brain, but that's more manageable than a kid with unrealistical expectations and a death and a girl who's biggest redeeming quality is that she's a girl'_ thought Kakashi.

"Okay, now to let you guys in a on a little secret. Normally, I would have to give you a secondary test, one to see if you were a little more prepared than the bare basics for being a Genin and the shinobi lifestyle. However, since Naruto is already Genin and I can't threaten his position in the corps, I will pass on giving you guys the test. However, tomorrow, at Training Grounds 7, we will have a survival training."

"But sensei, we already did those back in the academy" complained Sakura.

"These are a little different, as you will not be surviving nature, you will have to survive me. Now, be there at 7 am sharp. That's Traing Grounds 7 at 7 am. Oh, and I wouldn't eat breakfast, unless you want to throw up." That was all Kakashi said before he left in a burst of smoke leaving behind his 3 students.

' _Oh no, what do I do, this could be dangerous'_ Thought Sakura

' _Finally, a challenge worthy of an Uchiha Elite'_ Thought Sasuke

' _I bet 20 bucks that Sasuke gets his ass kicked first, Sakura gets knocked out super easily and I fight Kakashi until time is up.'_ Thought Naruto

 **A/N: Okay, I don't really have much to say. I like this pairing when done right and I think I can do a decent attempt at doing it right.**

 **Also, this story is replacing Criss Cross Paths in my story pool, I liked that story, but didn't feel the motivation was real enough for me. If I can't put words onto paper, who can I expect you guys to read something.**

 **Also, I have already made the Twitter Page, my username is HKM_FF, if you follow me, I will update any story you want once a week for a month straight. I will have a voting for that on my Twitter page, so please follow that. I would like it, if you would be so kind to do that for me, as I do all these stories for you.**

 **Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating. You can find real time updates on my stories on twitter, as I use the story title as a Hashtag.**

 **Now, the usual applies to that update date, it will all depend on my school and work schedule. As, I mentioned before I have actually just finished the paper work to declare my major, I am going to be a biophysicist. I can't wait to get my degree and ride off into the sun set, but after I also need to get prepared for my master's program starting this spring, and by spring, I mean the program that I have already started and lowkey hate. I also am in the process of getting a new job, so there is that as well. The job hunt is going poorly and I dislike being unemployed because I dislike not having money outside of what I had saved.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me**


	2. Chapter 2

_Naruto was running. He couldn't have been much more than 8 years old. His hair wasn't the usual sunshine blonde, no it was a muddy blackish-red. His shirt, normally white, was cut to ribbons. His pants weren't in a much better situation, as they showed that they were covered in holes as well. All in all, everyone and their mama could tell that Naruto was clearly wasn't having a good day. No, Naruto was having a very shitty day, a poor week, a sorry month, really the entire year had been bad._

 _Naruto was running, no limping in a hurried manner, through the streets of his homeland, Konoha. A slight buzz in the air behind him, made him jump up onto a rooftop from the street. It didn't matter though, because Naruto still felt the red-hot pain of being cut into all over his left side. All on his left side, his shoulder, right above his elbow, his ribs, his thigh, his knee and his calf. Everything mentioned was covered in slash marks from Shuriken and Kunai that had been tossed at him from behind._

 _Naruto dropped to one knee, gasping for air. His lungs burned, and his blood was leaking from his body. The wounds that usually hissed and closed within moments of being inflicted, had remaining open. Naruto wasn't sure what was causing this unusual development, but he knew that if he didn't manage to close the wounds quickly, he wouldn't last much longer._

 _A ninja dropped down in front of Naruto, a standard run of the mill Jonin._

" _Naruto, who are the people who did this to you?"_

 _Naruto smirked and said "Well Hurigi-Sensei (Huer-Ge), you know that the civilians always try to attack me. Although, this hasn't really happened since I became a ninja over a year ago."_

 _Hurigi smirked and pulled out a Kunai and slashed at Naruto, causing him to flinch._

Naruto awoke, covered in sweat and trying to shake off the effects of the night terror that had plagued his dreams. He hadn't remembered much, a series of sharp pains that had been all over his body, a spike in anger, and a flash of red. He looked at his bedside clock, it was 5:37 in the morning, he didn't need to be anywhere until 7 am.

Naruto got up showered and made himself breakfast, because who gave a shit what Kakashi said, a man got to eat. Slipping on his training gear, a black skin tight shirt with a set of black pants, Naruto was ready to leave at 6:45 AM.

Training Ground 7 was one of the more normal and standard training grounds, it had a large forest perimeter, a river that passed by on one side, solid earth bedrock, had a large open area. That meant that it was suitable for Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water techniques.

The only thing off about the training grounds that wasn't standard, was the 3 stumps in the middle of grounds, but Naruto heard they were for a special test that Hokages of the past used on their Genin teams.

Naruto was the first to arrive, followed by Sakura, and the Sasuke. The trio of Genin had all arrived by 6:55, 5 minutes earlier than 7 AM. They kind of just sat there in silence, something that Naruto and Sasuke were more than comfortable with. After a minute or two, Sakura decided to break that silence.

"So, Naruto is there a reason that you never got promoted? I mean if you don't mind" she had rushed in that last part at the glance that Naruto gave her.

 **Flashback:**

 **Naruto sat inside of the classroom, ready for his team to be assigned to him. In the week since Naruto managed to pass, he had kind of turned his entire life around. He stopped pranking people, he brought clothes that weren't orange. He actually ate an orange for the first time, as he started using the Ninja Handbook Dietary guide to buy and eat healthier.**

 **All in all, Naruto was pulling around a losing franchise. Because, sometimes all that it takes for you to better yourself, is one small victory. A random generic Chunin entered the room and said**

" **I want to congratulate the group of you, what you've achieved is nothing to laugh at. Not everyone manages to make the cut, some drop out and others lack the ability to make it to this point. I look forward to with each and every single one of you at some point in the future.**

 **Now, let's assign the teams …. Team 10, your Sensei is Asuma Sarutobi."**

 **Naruto looked puzzled as did some of the other kids, as none of them heard his name called when he had graduated like the rest of them.**

 **Hana, one of the better and closer friends that Naruto had, raised her arm and said, "You didn't call Naruto's name. He wasn't assigned to a team, but he graduated like the rest of us"**

 **Naruto turned a bright red as this was brought up and was thankful that nobody laughed.**

 **The Chunin looked over the paper in his hands, reading through it, and finally must have read the answer. "Genin Uzumaki, Naruto is to report to the Hokage's office to enter the Shinobi Reserves Program due to the uneven amount of Genin in this graduating class."**

" **Wait, what does that mean?" blurted out Naruto before he could stop himself.\**

" **What it means Naruto, is that you're guaranteed to become a Genin, you are a full shinobi in terms of rank and career, but you will not have a Jonin Sensei for the moment. This is the spring class, so you might be getting one when the Summer Class ends in 8 weeks, or you might have to wait until the next Fall class ends in August."**

 **Flashback end:**

Naruto shook himself free of his little space out and realized that both of his younger teammates were looking at him, waiting for him to blow up on Sakura or just answer her question. He chose to do the later of the two options.

"Well, as I told you before, I was the odd one out in my class. 31 students, 10 teams and a left over, for whatever reason, they decided that meant that the left over was me. However, I think that it worked out for best, because I got to train non-stop for almost 8 months before I even got my first mission."

Sasuke seemed interested in this and asked, "How exactly does one go about getting put on the reserves list?"

"You can't choose to be on the list, you are put on the list. If you suffer a long term injury like losing a couple of fingers or your leg, you can get put on the list, the injured reserve list. But you don't want to be on that list because they usually are the first to kill themselves from the stress of the lifestyle."

"Naruto, you didn't answer my question, why haven't you been promoted in 5 years?" asked again Sakura

"Umm, I haven't done anything worth being promoted for. I haven't had some life changing mission that was vital to the village, I didn't save a princess or anything. I haven't taken the Chunin exams yet either, mostly because I haven't had a team. Now, that I am put on this team, I expect that we will be nominated for the Chunin exams in 6 months."

"Why do you say that Naruto?" asked Sakura

"Because of me. I am 17 years old, the only living known member of the Uzumaki Clan, I honestly should have been a Chunin about 3 years ago. Plus, I will be putting the pressure on Kakashi to enter us, I don't get my heritage until I make Chunin."

"You're a clan heir? To the Uzumaki Clan? I've never heard of them" asked and then stated Sakura

"They're cousins to the Senju clan, but they weren't part of Konoha. They are from the Land and Village Hidden in the Whirlpools. They played the mediator between the Senju and the Uchiha when Konoha was in the process of being formed." Cut in Sasuke.

' _Oh my god, Sasuke is so smart and cool'_ thought Sakura

"Sasuke is right, we're related to the Senju, my Great Aunt was the wife of the first Hokage, Mito Uzumaki. She was said to be on the same level of strength as Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. She was even part of the fight between the two at the Valley." Said Naruto.

Suddenly, Naruto sensed Kakashi chilling in one of the trees not too far away but didn't want to say anything that might alert the other two Genin to their Sensei being so close to them. So, he waited, waited for Kakashi to reveal himself to the group. But what Naruto thought was going to be a minute or so, stretched into 10, then 30, and finally into an hour. The time had been spent being filled with small talk and

Naruto had patience, but he wasn't willing to wait an hour for a person who was literally 3 feet away.

"Kakashi, you can come out now!" called out Naruto

In a burst of smoke, Kakashi was standing in front of the trio of Genin.

"YOU'RE LATE!" screeched Sakura, causing the males of the group to cover their eyes in pain.

"Kakashi was sitting in that tree, right there for a little over an hour. I assume this was a test of your ability to detect enemy shinobi" Naruto said, being the most experienced of the trio

"Naruto is correct, so far, only Naruto is worth anything on this team. He noticed me almost immediately, but the two of you, Sakura and Sasuke, I would have killed you before you even realized it."

Pulling an alarm clock out of nowhere, Kakashi set it down on one of the 3 stumps in the middle of the training ground.

"That alarm is set to go off at exactly 9:15 AM. The goal of this exercise is to take one of these bells from me" Kakashi said, holding up a twin set of bells on a piece of string.

"But Sensei, there are only 2 bells and 3 of us. What happens if we don't manage to get one of the bells." Asked Sakura

"I was getting to that, so the person who does not get a bell will be tied to this stump, watch the people who do get bells and myself, enjoy a packed lunch from the nicest restaurant in Konoha. Then, since the people who got the bells are clearly taking their shinobi careers seriously, they will not have to return to the Academy for an extra year."

"WHAT!" shouted all three Genin.

"But you said yesterday that none of us had to take a secondary test, that we were all official Genin because of Naruto" whined Sakura

"I am a Shinobi Sakura, we lie. I've lied to people and waited for them to turn their backs, only to stab them through the heart. As a shinobi, you are expected to look underneath the underneath. No prepare yourselves, the time is 8:05. In 10 minutes, the exam will begin, and you will have an hour to take the bell, failure to do so, will result in … well you already know." Kakashi said, and with a wave of his hand, the Genin went into hiding, as they prepared to try and take a bell off of Kakashi.

Naruto was hidden just on the other side of the river, knowing that Kakashi as a trained shinobi would be able to smell him if he didn't mask his scent.

But at the moment, he was thinking about the weird situation that he and his team were in.

' _There are no 2 Genin and 1 Jonin squads in Konoha, at least none that are fresh out of the academy. There is more to this story, something isn't right about this. What did Kakashi day we were supposed to do as Shinobi? Look underneath the underneath? Hmm, let's see if I can find out what that means.'_ Thought Naruto.

Kakashi hadn't moved, as he used his senses to see if he could locate any of the 3 Genin. Sakura was on the ground, about 15 meters behind him, hidden in a berry bush. Now, that normally would have worked, but her Cinnamon Peach shampoo didn't exactly blend with the smell of berries. Sasuke was hidden in the trees to his left, 12 meters to the tree and 4 meters up in the air. He didn't know it, but that Blue shirt and cream pants combo, didn't blend all that well with green leaves. Naruto was on the other side of the river, but there were multiple copies of his scent running around.

Suddenly Sasuke jumped down and stood off to the side of him.

"You know, you can't hide and attack from the shadows if you are standing out in the open. You do know that, right?"

Sasuke scoffed at the words of Kakashi and said, "I don't need to hide and attack from the shadows, as an Uchiha elite, I am better than the rest."

"Is that so?"

"Hn, you'll see for yourself"

"Well, let's get to it. I will not be defeated because you a quote on quote "Uchiha Elite" speaks at me."

Sasuke grit his teeth and slid into a classic Uchiha Taijustu stance.

"Okay, Taijustu is where we will begin then. Shinobi lesson 1, Taijustu" said Kakashi, as he reached into his pouch on his hip.

' _If he said Taijustu, then why is he reaching for a weapon'_ thought Sasuke, as he directed his own hand towards his weapons' pouch, ready to draw a kunai, himself.

To his surprise, Kakashi didn't pull out a weapon, but rather an orange book that said "Make Out Paradise" as the title. Kakashi noted that Sasuke was taken back at the sight of the book.

"What are you doing with that book?" asked Sasuke

"Well 'Uchiha Elite', I don't know what you do with books, but I am reading this one."

"But why?"

"To find out what happens of course"

"But I thought we were about to fight with Taijustu?"

"We are, don't mind the book. I mean, you can come at me with everything you have. It doesn't matter if I am doing this or whatever, the result will be the same."

Sasuke grit his teeth, and launched himself at Kakashi, who ducked under his punch. Sasuke twisted his body and used the momentum of the punch to launch a powerful kick. Kakashi's free hand zipped into the perfect place to block the kick and pushed Sasuke away.

Sasuke landed on his back but jumped back to his feet and started throwing punches at Kakashi, who simply weaved in and out of the strikes that Sasuke was throwing, never taking his eyes off of his book. Finally, Sasuke spun around, and landed in on a hand stand, and used his arms to throw himself at Kakashi, feet first. Kakashi dodged, but Sasuke managed to touch the bell on the man's waist.

"Oh, look at that. The 'Uchiha Elite' managed to actually touch one of the bells. You truly are the cream of the crop." Said Kakashi, as he prepared to end this little bout with Sasuke, disappearing from view with pure speed, Kakashi was in the middle bring his chop down on Sasuke's neck when a hand gripped his wrist, stopping is progress.

"Oh, Naruto, I was wondering when you would enter the fight, took you long enough." Said Kakashi, despite his thoughts being completely different.

' _When did he get so close? Better yet, how did he get so close without me being able to sense him? He is certainly more skilled than anyone gave him credit for'_

Kakashi slipped his book back into his pouch and used his now free hand to jab Naruto in the arm. The jab was filled with Lightning chakra, and thus Naruto's arm spasmed as he was forced to let go of Kakashi's arm.

Both of the more experienced ninja jumped back and Sasuke turned to look at the two older Shinobi preparing to fight. Naruto rushed forward with speed Sasuke could barely follow, and that Sakura couldn't follow, and threw a punch at Kakashi.

Kakashi stepped through the punch, using his forearm to push the punch away, forcing Naruto to overextend his positioning. Kakashi aimed his next elbow at Naruto's stomach, but Naruto twisted, and lashed out with his feet.

Kakashi jumped above Naruto and twisted to send a kick at the blond haired ninja. Naruto crossed his arms above his head and blocked the kick, which Kakashi used to twist back the other way and slam his fist into the stomach of the blocking boy. Kakashi's fist slammed into a slab of wood as Naruto substituted away.

Kakashi landed and turned to see Naruto finishing some hand signs.

 _Lightning Style: Rushing Wolves_

Kakashi's eye widen at the sight of a borderline Jonin level Justu, one that he was more than familiar with using. Channeling some wind chakra into his hand, Kakashi didn't move as the beasts of lightning came at him. Placing both of his hands in front of him, Kakashi released a pulse of wind chakra that destabilized the lightning Justu.

Kakashi looked up and saw that Naruto and Sasuke were both gone. Looking around, trying to see if he could sense any of the Genin, Kakashi let out a sign of relief, they were all gone from the immediate area.

' _I am way out of shape, especially if some reserve Genin is able to go toe to toe with me for any period of time. He is really skilled though, he had the strength to do damage if I got hit. He also had the chakra to throw around a high level Justu. Okay, maybe I am a little rusty, but he's way above the level of a Genin.'_ Thought Kakashi as he started his search for his victims, um … I mean Genin.

With Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura

"As much as I appreciate the help back there, I didn't need it, nor do I want any more of it in the future. I am an Uchiha Elite, we work alone" said Sasuke

"Wasn't your clan famous for working together in their Uchiha Police Units?" asked Naruto

Sasuke just huffed and Sakura spoke up

"I get why you grabbed Sasuke, Naruto. But why did you grab me as well?"

"Oh yeah, so this test isn't really about getting the bells." Answered Naruto

Sasuke and Sakura both looked shocked to hear this, so Naruto asked both of them, "Have either of you seen a team with only 2 Genin and 1 Jonin?"

Getting negative shaking of the heads from both, Naruto continued on speaking.

"That's because it's always 3 of us, Genin and 1 Jonin. Konoha is legendary for the teamwork that us, Shinobi show on the battlefield and missions. That is what the test is about."

"But what about the bells? And the threat to send us back to the Academy?" asked Sasuke

"Those are threats to try and drive a wedge between us, forcing us to view each other as threats rather than help. It is so that we can all fail rather than pass."

"So, what do we do?" asked Sakura

"I have a plan" said Naruto as he began to tell him what he thought would work.

With Kakashi

He had been walking for about 10 minutes, looking for his Genin, although he wasn't trying all that hard. His face was buried into his book and he had only taken about 25 steps from his original positon, but he was making progress.

That all changed when Naruto jumped down in front of him, with Sasuke following right behind him.

"Hmm, what is this? My cute little Genin are teaming up to take on little old me?"

Kakashi didn't get an answer as Naruto rushed at him, pocketing his book, Kakashi engaged Naruto once again in hand to hand combat. However, this time Kakashi was more than prepared for the skill, strength, and speed of the Blond. However, as he finally broke through the guard of Naruto's, landing a punch to the chest, Kakashi learned that he was facing a shadow clone, as Naruto burst into smoke.

Turning to where he remembered Sasuke was, he was met with the sight of Naruto and Sasuke both finishing hand signs.

 _Fire Style: Great Fireball Justu_

 _Wind Style: Great Windbreak_

The fireball was launched first, but when the wind Justu was launched after it, the flames turned white and raced at Kakashi with a speed that gave him few options. Those options were cut down when Kunai rained all around him, forcing him to remain in that one location as he didn't have a substitution prepared. ( **A/N: Have no idea how subbing really works, so roll with it)**

Kakashi channeled his chakra into his feet, this time, of the earth nature. Slamming his foot down, a solid earth wall rose up and blocked the massive flames that threatened to spill over. Kakashi had his eye closed and his clothes fluttered with the force of the flames slamming into his walls.

The flames came and passed with Kakashi's wall holding up for the most part. It was thinned as the first layers of the wall had been destroyed, but was still standing, if just barely. Naruto punched right through the wall, and Kakashi prepared himself for another exchange with the blond ninja.

However, that was put on hold, as Naruto held up a set of bells, causing Kakashi to check his waist to find that, Naruto was indeed holding the bells that Kakashi had on his waist at the beginning of the session.

Sasuke and Sakura moved to join Naruto's side and Kakashi felt a bit of pride at the three of them sticking together, but he still needed the final push from them. They needed to earn this all the way, and they really needed to get a dose of reality.

"So, congrats Naruto. You have the bells, so you get to decide which of the other 2 get lunch and gets to continue their shinobi career and which one repeats another year at the academy"

Naruto didn't say a word or do anything, as he just stared at Kakashi.

"Hmm, are you going to let them both fail then? That would certainly be interesting, as that would make you my only student. With your level of skill, we could probably get you a field promotion to Chunin within a month. Why let yourself be held back by the 2 runts, you've waited long enough, right?" Kakashi hoped that his bait would get some reaction out of Naruto, but the blond before him continued to show no emotion.

Finally, Naruto made his first move, raising the bells by the string and slicing through the string with a kunai from his pouch. Kakashi thought that Naruto was going to give the other bell to Sasuke, as he had helped the most. He was surprised that Naruto gave away both of the bells, one to Sakura and one to Sasuke.

"Do you realize what you are doing Naruto? You are risking your chance to further your career, is that something you can live with?" Kakashi tried to bait Naruto one last time, hoping for the hail may fail.

"Kakashi, you know as well as I do, that sometimes you have to sacrifice things that are important to you for the betterment of others. My career means nothing, if it comes at the cost of others. Plus, I haven't been to the academy in almost 6 years, I doubt they are going to make me do another year."

Kakashi frowned and the weather darkened around the training ground, "I guess I have no choice but to … pass all of you."

He turned away from the trio of happy Genin and said in a somber tone "Do you know why I choose Training Ground 7 for our test? It is because of this stone right here?"

"Kakashi-Sensei, what does that stone mean?" asked Sakura

"This stone is a list of the greatest heroes that the Leaf Village has ever seen Sakura."

"So, you brought us here to inspire us?" she asked

"No Sakura, these aren't just normal heroes. They are all KIA, each and every single one of them is confirmed."

Kakashi's answer brought a dark tone to the group, and it got a little worse as Kakashi continued

"The ninja names engraved on this stone, gave their lives for the Village, they paid the ultimate price for the safety of the village. The names of some of my closest friends are on here, some I watched fall and others that I was too late to save.

They say in the Shinobi world, a Shinobi who breaks the rules, written or unwritten, are trash. However, be as that may be, those who would disregard their comrades, so easily are even worse than trash. And those who don't have the decency to respect the memories of their comrades are the worst.

I hope what you take away from this day, as you begin your Shinobi lives, is that the mission is important. But it is never as important as the person to your left and right on the mission. We will meet again here tomorrow at 8 AM."

And just like that Kakashi disappeared in a burst of leaves and left the newly minted Genin alone.

Naruto turned to the other 2 and said "How about we celebrate officially becoming active roster Ninja. " Sasuke shrugged and Sakura nodded, and Naruto smiled.

' _Today is the day that I've been waiting for'_ thought Naruto

The Hokage's Office

The Third Hokage was waiting, as was the other 9 Jonin in his office. They were of course, waiting for one Kakashi Hatake, who was of course, about 2 hours late to the meeting. The door opened and in walked the one eyed S.O.B.

"Now that Kakashi is here, we can begin. Team 1, pass or fail. I want to know why and how" said the Third Hokage

Teams 1-6 all failed, for being unable to complete a simple task or being unable to work together.

"Kakashi, how did Team 7 do? Pass or Fail?"

All of the other Jonin were borderline laughing, as they all knew that nobody could ever pass Kakashi's tests. He failed every single team that he ever took, as with his impossible expectations, nobody ever came close to passing. Nobody expected the next words that left Kakashi's mouth.

"Team 7 passed, Lord Hokage. I gave them the stand Bell Tests, and at first Sasuke engaged me alone, something about being an 'Uchiha Elite'. I was able to handle him pretty easily, while reading my book in fact." That got some sighs from the females in the room, but Kakashi didn't stop for them.

"I was about to knock out Sasuke when Naruto gripped my hand, stopping me from doing so. I was forced to use chakra to break his grip and we engaged in a Taijustu bout that ended in a stalemate. He jumped back and fired a lightning Justu at me, which he used to escape with Sasuke.

Apparently, he managed to rally the other two as he and Sasuke came back out and Naruto again engaged me in hand to hand. However, it was a shadow clone and he and Sasuke used a combination Justu, with Sasuke using fire and Naruto using Wind. I was prepared to leave the path of the flames, but Sakura used a series of Kunai based traps to pin me down to the area. I raised an earth wall to stop the flames, and although I'm not sure how they got the bells, but they did.

Naruto choose to give the bells to the other 2 and I knew that there was nothing I could do to fail them. So, Team 7 passed."

The rest of the meeting when quickly as Team 8 and 10 were highly skilled in working together.

As everyone was dismissed, Hiruzen asked Kakashi to hang back

"So Kakashi, what did you think of him?"

"Naruto is NOT a Genin level ninja. He's easily Chunin and approaching Jonin levels, if he's not already there."

"It seems that all of his training has taken hold pretty well."

"What do you mean Lord Hokage?"

"You really think that I would allow someone like Naruto to just run around untrained and inexperienced, while I didn't train every second of every day, I did train him about once a month. He is a blade that I dare not let go dull."

"He received part time training from you? That might explain why he's clearly so powerful despite the lack of formal training."

"Yes, well it was the least that this old man could do for him. Doesn't he remind you of his father?"

"Yes, he is a lot like Sensei. Does he know who his parents are?"

"No, I have remained firm on that he is not to know until he reaches Chunin status, and you are not to tell him anything that will allow him to put the pieces together. Naruto is smart, he wouldn't need much to put it all together. All that I have told him is that he is the last known Uzumaki, and that is all he will get out of either of us on the family matter"

"Okay, Lord Hokage, is there anything else that you wanted to talk about before I take my leave?"

"Yes, I know that you are late and all, but I need you to get the other 2 up to Chunin Exam level within 6 months. The exam will be held in Konoha this time and I will not allow a chance for our ninja to not be seen as overwhelming powerful. Naruto will be in the exam and he will win the entire damn thing. After he becomes a Chunin, he will be removed from your squad and either I or Jiraiya will get him up to Jonin level within in another 6 months."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. Consider it done."

 **A/N: Okay, we have started to progress the story. The plot is thickening, the water needs to be drained, never salt your soup before you taste it.**

 **Okay, now to be a little more serious, we are setting to uncover some of the more interesting Naruto stories that my AU features. My Naruto is older, smarter, stronger, and all around better than Canon Naruto, was at his point in the story.**

 **So we did the bell test, Naruto figured it out and saved the day. We got a little background on Naruto, who had some training at the hands of Hiruzen Sarutobi AKA The Third Hokage. Now, I am not sure if he will know Jiraiya, so either comment or PM what you think about that.**

 **We also saw a bit of the push for Naruto to be in the Chunin exams, as he would be a great story for the Village to exploit, as the village is a business and Shinobi are products. In the next chapter, we will see some training, some missions, will be leading up to the mission to Wave. Oh, and of course some more Kurenai/Naruto interactions.**

 **Speaking of interaction, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. I am only a little salty that I have 11 followers as the posting of this chapter. Honestly, I might go on strike, probably not, but I could. I will never actually go on strike unless it's about my job banning gyros from the workplace.**

 **Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating. You can find real time updates on my stories on twitter, as I use the story title as a Hashtag.**

 **Now, the usual applies to that update date, it will all depend on my school and work schedule. As, I mentioned before I have actually just finished the paper work to declare my major, I am going to be a biophysicist. I can't wait to get my degree and ride off into the sun set, but after I also need to get prepared for my master's program starting this spring, and by spring, I mean the program that I have already started and lowkey hate. I also am in the process of getting a new job, so there is that as well. The job hunt is going poorly and I dislike being unemployed because I dislike not having money outside of what I had saved.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. So until next time, bye.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: A slightly longer chapter as I will not be focusing on this story again for at least 10 more days, sp enjoy.**_

 _ **Naruto had awoken to a pale white room on a mostly soft bed and clean walls. It took him almost no time to put together that he was in the hospital. Looking around he saw nothing, the room was bare, as he had no family to come and wait by his side or even wish him good health. Looking out the window, are could tell that the night was over as the first rays of the sun emerged from behind the cascade of clouds. There was a knock on the door and before Naruto could say anything, the door opened to reveal Hiruzen, or the Third Hokage. Naruto smiled at the aged man and said, "Old Man Hokage, what are you doing here?"**_

 _ **Hiruzen chuckled and said, "Can't an old man come and visit a dear friend when he is in the hospital?" Naruto beamed at the description that was given to him by the older man, who said "So, do you remember anything about the situation that ended with you here Naruto?" Unwilling to admit that he had a perfect memory of the event, Naruto shook his head and Hiruzen let out a strong sign of relief. And said, "I am glad to hear that there was no lasting damage or reminders of this night Naruto,"**_

 _ **Naruto smiled and said, "Yeah me too, what happens that to the people that tried to hurt me Old Man Hokage?" Hiruzen grimaced and said, "Well Naruto, they are either getting their minds check for anything wrong or their memories wiped." Naruto grit his teeth and though 'H**_ _ **ow could he do this to me, he never once looked my way and those that attacked me are free to go? Well it is too late for the villagers of this village. I guess I am some trash.**_ _ **' and with that Naruto's mind was made up and that was that he was going to treat the villagers like they treat me.**_

Present Day:

D Rank missions were nothing new to Naruto, they were basically what he lived off of for over 4 years. So, he was used to them, his teammates on the other hand weren't sure what to expect. To say that they were let down and disappointed at their first mission, would be an understatement.

The newly minted Team 7 met up at Training Ground 7 at 8 AM, like Kakashi asked. They waited for 15 minutes before Kakashi showed up in a puff of smoke.

"Okay team, we are going to have a set schedule for the first 6 weeks of our time together. We will take mission in the morning, we will finish by around 9:30-10 AM. After that we'll break for a break and met back here at 10:30. From 10:30 to 1PM, we will train on whatever I decide we need to work on. At that time, we will break for lunch and met back here for physical training from 2 PM to 4 PM. We will do this for 6 weeks, every single day. There will be no if's, and's, or but's."

Naruto nodded pleased with the training plan that they were setting. Sasuke didn't say anything, but he too was pleased with the set up. Only Sakura felt anything remotely negative, as she felt nervous and was scared, she had never trained at an elite level in anything physical, but here she was being asked to do multiple hours of what was going to be without a doubt intense exercises.

Hearing no complaints from his Genin charges, Kakashi motioned for them to follow him, as he led them through the village to the Mission Registry. The team entered the assignment room and saw Iruka, the Chunin from the academy who was their last Sensei, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

"Ah Kakashi, it is good to see you, I trust that you and your team are well." Said the Old Hokage

"Well enough for the moment, Team 7 is here for their first mission." Replied Kakashi, gesturing to his team standing behind him.

Iruka waved at Sasuke and Sakura, getting a wave back from Sakura and a slight dipping of the head to Sasuke. He didn't look at the tall blond who was standing next to them, but if he had, he would have seen the Blond had icy eyes directed towards the Hokage. The Hokage didn't back down or look away, and Kakashi could only wonder what the cause of the tension between the two was.

"Hmm, first mission, what do you think your team is capable of doing at the moment?" asked Iruka as he looked through the mission requests forms.

"Hmm, I say something simpler than normal, how about a P-52?"

"Let me check to see if I have one of those" replied Iruka.

Sasuke and Sakura both looked confused at the code, but Naruto broke his staring contest with the old man and looked at Iruka.

"I think a P-52 or a RR-17 would be prefer for a first mission as a team" said the blond ninja.

"Yes, either of those would be perfect, good idea Naruto." Said Kakashi, cosigning the idea.

"Well, you are in luck, I have both of those. Now, which one would you prefer?"

Naruto shrugged and looked to Kakashi to decide. The man with one visible eye, looked at his other 2 charges before saying "the RR-17 seems like the best choice for the moment, don't want to tire them out."

Iruka nodded and handed them the RR-17 scroll and Kakashi accepted it and the team left the room.

The Third Hokage signed. _'It seems that no matter what, he still holds that's distain for me. I wonder how long will take for your son to forgive me, Minato?'_

Team 7 had exited the building and the Genin had gathered around their Sensei, with 2 of the Genin wondering what their mission was.

Kakashi broke the seal on the scroll and reviewed the exact details, before tossing the scroll to Sasuke.

"Resources Reviewing – 17: Weapon Cataloging" the Uchiha read out loud.

"Yup, your first mission is to head to the location on the scroll and do the inventory for the shop. Failure to do so correctly, will result in no pay and you re-doing the task until you do it correctly." Said Kakashi.

Naruto nodded, used to these mission, while Sasuke and Sakura were trying to process the fact that they were being used to do basic labors. They followed Naruto silently, sulking as they realized that the mission they had been assigned wasn't what they had expected or hoped for.

The shop hadn't been too far away, and Naruto lead the way to the store. Greeting the owner with familiarity, Naruto explained that they had been assigned the mission. The owner nodded and pointed to the back. Naruto gestured for the other 2 to follow him into the back-storage room.

He created 2 shadow clones and pointed to his teammates and said, "I don't know about you guys, but these missions are how I support myself. My clones will provide you with instructions and directions on anything you have issues with. This is so that we can complete this mission correctly, the first time."

And just like that, they got to work. They listed what weapons and tools that the shop had, how many there was of each item, how many the shop was supposed to have, what the difference was between the reported number and the actual number, what the shop needed to replace because of low numbers, what the shop had to report because of faulty or damaged items, cleaning the areas that the items were being kept, cleaning the items that they were cataloging, cleaning the rest of the storage room of any dust, and finally what the shop was selling them for compared to how much they cost to restock in the store.

It was more math than Sasuke was used to doing and Naruto's clone helped him out a lot with some of the more finer details of their assigned mission. Sakura on the other hand, took to the job like a fish in water and finished early enough that she was able to help Sasuke finish his portion. Naruto finished before both of them, having done this type of mission more than once before.

It took them close to an hour to finish to the mission. They even doubled checked it before they got the shop owner to come and take a look at their work. He nodded over their work, checking to make sure that everything was correct. He gave them the thumbs up on the job and handed Naruto the payment. Naruto nodded and they trio of Genin left the shop to find Kakashi waiting outside, leaning against the tree and reading his orange book.

"Look at that, 9:43 AM, right between our target mission ending time. Now the more important part, did you get paid for the mission?" the silver haired man asked

Naruto nodded and handed the payment to Kakashi, who opened it and counted to make sure that everything was accounted for. Reaching into the envelope, Kakashi pulled out 500 Ryo and handed 150 to Sasuke and Sakura and 200 to Naruto.

Before the other two could complain about the difference in payment, Kakashi spoke.

"Naruto has been a ninja longer than either of you two, therefore he gets paid a higher rate than either of you. Now it isn't drastically difference, since the three of you are all Genin, but if we all went on a C Rank mission that required us to travel outside the village, I would get paid 6000 Ryo while Naruto would make 1750 and you two would make 1125 each.

If Naruto was a Chunin, he would make double what either of you make with the amount of years being under his belt. Remember, that pay is based on many factors. I have been an active roster for almost 22 years since I was 5. Naruto has been taking D Ranked missions for 5 years, this was literally your first mission. When Naruto eventually get promoted to Chunin, his salary will be multiplied by 1.5, and that would put him at double either of your rates."

The long explanation made sense to Sasuke and Sakura, the more years you put in, the more you get paid, with each rank having its own pay range.

"Okay, we will be meeting up at 10:30 AM at our training ground. Do not be late or you will be punished." Said Kakashi before he disappeared in a burst of leaves.

"I will also see you guys back at the training grounds as well, I have to pick some stuff up for my apartment, and we have a 45-minute break. This is probably the best time for me to do it" said Naruto as he too, disappeared in the same manner as the trio of Genin's Sensei had, in a burst of leaves.

Naruto reappeared on the roof a specific building in the Shopping District that ninja was allowed to Shunshin to without facing a fine from the Chunin Police Squad that over saw the area. The Civilian side of the village council may not have much of the power, but they were able to stop Shinobi in the village from leaving leaves everywhere they went.

Hopping down from the rooftop, Naruto landed in the street and looked up and down the block, looking for the new home good store that he had saw on one of his mission in the middle of the village.

Seeing the shop, Naruto entered the store named " _Simply Home_ ". It was a store that supposedly sold items that were more suited for the strength of a Shinobi rather than a normal civilian. Upon entering, Naruto walked right over to the sign that said, " _Custom order_ ".

"Hi, I would like to order a bed frame, if that is possible" Naruto told the store attendant

"No problem sir, what size bed do you have?" as the store worker started to write up his order.

"I have an 8 by 8 bed, I need the bed to have chakra absorbing seals on it." Said Naruto

"Okay, so 8 by 8 and chakra absorbing seals, what type of wood would you like?"

"Um, something solid and strong"

"Hmm, I think we will go with double re-enforced pine wood."

"Sounds good"

"Here is your order form, you can pay over there"

Naruto nodded and walked over to the cashier while looking at his order only to literally bump into someone.

"What the he-. Oh, it's you Naruto" said a female voice, one that Naruto knew well enough.

"Hana, what are you doing here?"

"I'm ordering a new dog bed, I got one at another place and the little fucker ripped it to shreds while I was working at the Vet. One of my friends recommended this place to me, so here I am." Explained Hana.

Naruto nodded in understanding and decided that since he still had 38 minutes, he might as well wait with his friend. Hana placed her specific order and the two of them marched over to the cashier together.

"Okay, so your bed frame total is 175 Ryo, and her dog bed is 115 Ryo. By the way, you two make a cute couple" said the teen aged cashier as she looked at the two ninja.

Naruto laughed, and Hana snickered, before they both denied the claims by the cashier.

"No, this knucklehead next to me is my friend from the Academy, we graduated together. Although I am technically his boss, he still hasn't gotten that promotion. But we are not a couple, I would wear him out" said Hana.

Naruto scoffed "Please, with my chakra levels, you would leave crawling on all fours like a dog. I don't date this girl because she once tried to pants me during lunch, and her dog tried to bite me. Can't date someone who doesn't understand a boy and his connection with his pants."

The cashier let out a squeal and said, "My god, the two of you need to get a room. The sexual tension is killing me."

Naruto pulled out 300 Ryo and told the teen girl to keep the change before he and Hana walked out of the shop.

"So, Naruto what are you doing at the moment?"

"I am about to head back to my apartment and drop my receipt off before I go rejoin my team."

"I heard that they finally gave you a team, I bet they force them into the Chunin Exams immediately and you get that promotion. Then, from there, you'll probably be on the face track to hit Jonin. I give it a year before you reach the elite status around here, you were always much too good to be held back like you were."

"Thank you, Hana, I finish team training at 1 PM, have an hour-long break before we continue doing anything."

"Hmm, me and some of my friends were going to grab Lunch at 12:45, you should swing by. It would be nice to have you meet the rest of my friends, and it would get you to do something over than train."

"You know what, sure. I would love to join you and your friends for lunch. I think you only want me to come because I always pay for anything you get when we are together."

"What? Me? Take advantage of your kindness? No! Never! We're going to be at the _Jasmine Dragon_ by the Payroll building. It is kind of pricy, I would bring 450+. See ya then" said Hana as she left.

Naruto shook his head and sighed, before he did as he said he would do. He went back to his apartment and dropped of his receipt in his fireproof save. He also grabbed some more money, 600 Ryo and stuffed it into his toad wallet. Grabbing some of his more useful equipment, Naruto made his way back to Training Grounds 7.

He arrived at 10:20 and knew that there was nothing else he could but wait. Grabbing a leaf off of the tree closest to him and began to focus his chakra in manner that caused leaf in his hand to become extremely soggy.

"That's quite the interesting trick Naruto, if I do say so myself. That is some pretty advanced elemental manipulation that you have." Said Kakashi from behind Naruto.

"It is easier to do with this leaf because there is a small portion of water already inside of the leaf. I can use that small amount to enhance my ability to make water element based chakra." Replied Naruto

"I've seen you use Wind, Lightning, and now Water based chakra. That is a powerful trio for you have. Where did you learn those from?"

"I learned them by myself, I figured that with all of this extra time that I had without a team, I would at least make myself the best version of myself. You've seen some of what I can do, almost all of that is self taught."

"Hmm, what about the help the Hokage gave you?" asked Kakashi.

"The Hokage cares more about himself and his own goals than the wellbeing of an individual such as myself. My few lessons with him were short and to the point, but they weren't for my betterment. They were to teach me a lesson of what I can't achiever." Said Naruto bitterly.

Any question Kakashi was about to ask, died in his throat when Sakura and Sasuke both arrived in the training grounds. Understanding that it must be close to 10:30, Kakashi slipped back into Sensei mode and addressed all three of the Genin.

"Now, I will have you spar lightly with myself, to gauge your abilities. We will be going through the main 3 categories of Shinobi Abilities. That means Taijustu, Genjustu, and Ninjustu. I say we allow Sakura to go first." Said Kakashi.

Naruto jumped ove r to Sasuke and they both took a couple of steps back to allow Sakura and Kakashi to stand alone.

"Ready whenever you are" said Kakashi.

Sakura nodded and rushed Kakashi and started to attack the Jonin with a strictly Academy Standard Taijustu. It was textbook perfect, and that was the problem. Kakashi easily weaved in and out of her thrown blows and started actively blocking her punches and kicks as soon as they were launched.

Stopping the Taijustu portion of the evaluation, Kakashi motioned to the girl for her to move on to the Genjustu part of the test. Sakura did much better on that part of the test. She used several low level Genjustu that still managed to trap Kakashi for mere seconds. However, Kakashi knew that second or two, was all a real Shinobi would need in the real world. A single second unaware and your life was over, and nothing would be able to change that.

Finally, Sakura was told to show Kakashi whatever Ninjustu that she knew. While his expectations were pretty low, he didn't think that she would literally only know 4 Justu. Sakura knew how to perform the Substitution Justu, but only with objects that weighed up to 40 pounds and nothing too small. She knew how to make clones, the basic illusion crafted useless ones that everyone else knew from the Academy. And she knew how to Henge into other people, just like every 10 year old who ever went to the Ninja Academy.

Her only saving grace was that she knew an old old Justu from the First Shinobi War. Sakura knew the _Fire Style: Spitting Embers_ Justu. While it was basically a glorified version of the Campfire Justu that every Chunin was taught, the Spitting Embers Justu had the ability to light almost anything on fire. It was not strong or realty fast, but the slow burn was something that could be used.

Kakashi wasn't pleased with her abilities, but he also wasn't discouraged by her abilities either. She was basically a blank slate, something for him to build and mold into a proper Shinobi. All in all, Sakura at this point was a solid D+/C- rated Genin, something Kakashi was going to change really quickly.

Sasuke went next, and again, Kakashi started off with Taijustu. Sasuke has solid Taijustu skill, but it lacked something that Kakashi knew about. Sasuke used the Uchiha Clan Taijustu Style, something that nobody had a problem with since it was his birthright as an Uchiha. However, the drawback of the exclusive Taijustu style was that it needed a Sharingan to be used in its most effective form.

Sasuke lacked a Sharingan at the moment, something that Kakashi couldn't change at the moment. So Kakashi, while impressed with his commitment to his family and their personal style, was going to introduce a more balanced Taijustu form to Sasuke. At the very least, until Sasuke managed to gain his Sharingan, and that was kind of a big IF at this point.

Sasuke's Genjustu ability was terrible, his illusions didn't take hold and when they did they were noticeably noticeable. This was expected as males rarely received any type of Genjustu help in the Academy as it wasn't seen as something a male would specialize in.

Sasuke's Ninjustu was not that much larger than Sakura's. Sasuke knew the basic Academy 3 Justu and then 3 other Justu. While Kakashi knew that Sasuke knew the _Fire Style: Great Fireball Justu_ , Kakashi was surprised to learn that Sasuke knew 2 other fire Justu. _Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Justu_ was not anything to sneeze at, especially from a newly minted Genin. The last Justu had Kakashi raising an eyebrow because it wasn't something Sasuke should have access to, let alone be able to perform.

 _Fire Style: Flame Dragon Bullet_ was a B Ranked Fire Justu, something that few Chunin were allowed to learn through the archives, and Kakashi was sure that no Genin or Academy Student had access to the Justu Vault hidden away underneath the Hokage's Tower.

Sasuke was a much more prepared ninja than Sakura was. His Taijustu was great enough for a Genin, but only average for a person who had been a Shinobi as long as Naruto. His Genjustu was downright terrible, he would need more instruction of the topic, besides how to dispel Genjustu. His Ninjustu ability was beyond solid for a new Genin and would grow over the next 6 months before the Chunin Exams that would be held in Konoha.

All in all, Sasuke was a strong B+/A- Rated Genin. That may seem high, but a A+ rated Genin is only a C- rated Chunin.

Now, the person that Kakashi was most looking forward to, Naruto Uzumaki. The Taijustu evaluation went better than Kakashi had thought possible. Naruto used a mixture of styles to create a whirlwind of punches and kick, that seemingly came from everywhere. Naruto struck hard, fast, and most importantly with conviction. Naruto didn't hesitate like Sakura did at several times nor did he slow down to think like Sasuke had, he attacked and attacked until he was put on defense.

Naruto's Genjustu was weird. He didn't use Genjustu on Kakashi, instead he leaked chakra out in waves, and each wave managed to catch Kakashi for a brief half second. It worked to a certain point, as each wave recast a Genjustu, so as Kakashi broke the first illusion, he was put back into another illusion. It wasn't subtle nor was it any type of standard for Genjustu, but it worked. Naruto also had no problem breaking the illusions that Kakashi put him under, a surprise for someone who had so much chakra. Usually people with massive chakra reserves complained that finding a sliver of someone's chakra inside their open of chakra was like asking someone to remember a single leaf inside of a massive forest.

Moving past the weird use of Genjustu, Kakashi was interested to see the Ninjustu ability of Naruto. And Kakashi found that he was not disappointed or let down by his blond Genin. Naruto created 2 shadow clones, already bringing up his Ninjustu pool to the best of the 3 Genin. What Kakashi witnessed next was something that he never expected. The shadow clones plus Naruto each casted a different elemental Justu.

 _Fire Style: Great Blaze Ball_

 _Water Style: Great Gunshot_

 _Wind Style: Divine Wind_

The sphere of fire shot out of one Naruto's mouth and Kakashi knew that the techniques was the better version of the Great Fireball Justu. The bullet of water left another Naruto's mouth and hit the massive ball of fire. The result was an explosion of strong winds and smoke. Finally, the wind Justu came in blowing the smoke away and negating the rest of the strong winds from the explosion.

Naruto had strong Taijustu skills beyond what almost any single Genin would be expected to have. His Genjustu while weird and unique, worked for the most part and that is all that matters. Also, Naruto could use 3 of the elemental chakra natures to a level that showed that he was nearing mastering them. It was getting harder and harder to believe that this type of Shinobi was just left on the shelf per say.

Why had the village not put a person with this level of skill to work sooner? Kakashi wasn't sure, but he was interested in finding out. All in all, Naruto was a B+/A- rated Chunin who was stuck as a Genin. It didn't do Naruto justice to simply name him a A+ rated genin when he was so much better than any normal Genin.

Kakashi checked his alarm clock and saw that it was already 12:45. The evaluations had taken a bit more of the team's time than he had thought it would, but he had to deliver his evaluations to the Hokage. He also probably would ask about the Naruto thing, but he would work up to that.

"Alright team, I will be letting you go 13 minutes today, as we break from lunch. Now normally, I could care less about what you eat, but I want a receipt if you buy something or a list of ingredients if you make something. I don't want to hear any complaining right now, I will explain why I am doing this later." Kakashi muttered before he disappeared in a burst of leaves.

Naruto shrugged, he had heard weirder request before, while Sasuke and Sakura both looked confused about why they would be asked to do such a thing.

"So Sasuke, do you want to eat lunch with me?" asked Sakura as she bat her eyes at her crush.

"No" came the short reply from the Uchiha

"Oh okay." Said the rejected girl

"Hey, what about you, Naruto? Do you want to eat lunch with me?" Sakura asked, this time more as teammates and friends than any romantic manner.

"Sorry, I have plans to eat lunch with a friend" said Naruto

The way Naruto said " _Friend_ ", made both Sasuke and Sakura realize that Naruto didn't view them as friends. Naruto saw them as teammates and nothing more, and in a way it kind of made sense. Naruto was older and obviously a much more skilled individual than either of the two new Genin, they just didn't realize that it was more of a work relationship rather than a budding friendship.

The two younger Genin watched their older teammate disappear in a burst of leaves, just like their sensei had.

"Okay Sakura, I will have lunch next to you, but if I hear one squeal, I am leaving" muttered Sasuke.

Naruto reappeared on the edge of the village, landing on the road that led to the training grounds used by Jonin Sensei. It was also close to where he needed to be, as it put him near the main road. As he walked down the street, he watched the civilians walk from and into the numerous stores that lined the street. Naruto felt bubbling anger build as he saw the people who used to treat him badly, move about as free as they wished to be.

He finally stopped walking, in front of a sizable building that was the _Jasmine Dragon._ Naruto entered the restaurant and immediately spotted a group of four people. Walking over to the group, Hana noticed him and waved at him. Naruto moved around the table and took a seat next to his Dog affiliated friend. It was only after Naruto had taken a seat, did he notice who else was at the table.

Besides Hana who Naruto knew, two of the four people at the table were unknown to him. There was girl with pale skin, white eyes, and long black hair. She was also hearing the standard Jonin uniform and had her headband tied around her forehead, Naruto didn't know this girl. Nor the girl next to her, as she wore the same standard uniform, but tired her headband around her bicep. She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes, with a normal pale skin tone that the people of Konoha had. Naruto did however, know the other lady in the group, her purple hair in up in spiky bun, the mesh shirt with the orange skirt and an open trench coat. She also had a kunai hidden up her sleeve, ready for use at any time, yes Naruto unfortunately knew Anko.

"Ah, look who it is guys, it's whiskers." Said the purple haired woman

"Nice to see you too Anko, I trust all is well" replied the blond

"You're no fun Naruto with all of this _professionalism_ , lighten up." Replied Anko as she pointed her chopstick at Naruto.

"Anko enough, you know what happens if you go barking up this tree. Last time Naruto was nice enough to take you to the hospital, he might not be feeling so kind this time and I refuse to do it. Anyway, Naruto these are some of my friends, this is Kohari Hyuuga" Hana said as she pointed at the woman with the headband around her head.

"And this is Kagomi Hoki" this time pointing at the brown-haired woman as Hana finished introducing Naruto to her friends.

"Nice to meet you ladies, my name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"We know who you are, Hana can't stop talking about you almost every time the two of you bump into each other." Said Kohari

Hana growled as she turned a shade of red that Naruto had never seen before, but Naruto ignored the teasing and looked at Kagomi.

"Your last name is Hoki, is that from the Hoki clan?"

"You know of us?" asked the Hoki clan member

"Yes, your clan is one of the greatest users of medical Justu in the world, it would do well to know of a group so large and so skilled."

"Thanks, but clan member numbers take a massive hit in recent years, soon we might have to teach our techniques to outsiders, just to make sure that they get passed on."

"That's a shame" and Naruto really believed that it was a shame.

Just then the waiter came over and said "Is your party ready to order?"

"No, we are still waiting for one more" said Hana

"How about just ordering some drinks and I will bring some bread by" said the Waiter.

The group agreed and all placed their various drinking orders with Hana placing two of her drinks, one for her mystery friend as well. If he was being completely honest, Naruto hadn't even realized that there was an empty chair to his immediate right until Hana brought up that they were waiting for someone.

"So, Naruto I heard that they finally placed you on a team, is that true?" asked Anko

"Yes, I guess they decided that I was better suited in the field than sitting at home training" replied the blond ninja

"Sorry, I'm late guys, but I had to answer some questions for my Genin" said a familiar voice to the group of people at the table. Naruto glanced towards who said it before he realized that he did know the person who said it. The friend of Hana's, that was running late was Kurenai Yuhi. The raven haired beauty was covered in a light layer of sweat and her clothes had seen better days, because although they were clean, they also had several claw mark slashes in them. It was bad, to the point that the bandage made dress looked ready to fall off at any given moment.

Kurenai moved to sit in the only open seat, next to Naruto. She was in the process of sitting down, when the wooden chair snagged the back of her dress. The result was that when she sat all the way down, the dress ripped all the way down her back and her dress fell forward off of her body. This lead to the entire table getting a view of her in just her shorts, that they couldn't even see. . Kurenai felt a slight breeze and looked down only to see that the other people at the table now knew about her lack of a bra. She turned bright red from her face down to her stomach, but before she could do anything a small smoke bomb went off and when the smoke cleared seconds later, she was wearing an orange and black jacket that was zipped up all the way.

Naruto was now wearing a tight black t-shirt and everyone was surprised at how fast he managed to fix the situation for Kurenai. A waiter came over, with the manager standing in the distance, and asked "What was the cause of that smoke bomb?"

Naruto raised his hand and replied with, "Sorry sir, I was leaning back, and it slipped out of my leg pouch, I will pay for any inconveniences' that it may have caused, you can add it to our bill"

The waiter looked to his boss and got a nod and took their orders. It wasn't until after the waiter left with their orders that Kurenai even looked at Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto, I'm surprised that you managed to move so quickly, you did it without me even feeling or realizing what you were doing until you finished."

"Well, I had to act fast, can't have the entire restaurant seeing you naked"

"I think that it was some amazingly fast thinking Naruto. I honestly don't know if any of us would have been able to react as fast" commented Hana

"Hana has a point, I was more dumbfounded by the rack on Mrs. Genjustu over here" the crude Anko said

"Anko, you know that you're not allowed to talk like that at any meal time, we had an agreement. And you know as well as I do, it is Ms. Genjustu, not Mrs." Retorted Kurenai.

"Oh, does that mean you dumped Asuma" asked Kagomi, hoping to catch some gossip.

"Well, we are on a break right now, mostly because he's an idiot" muttered Kurenai.

Naruto leaned back in his chair and just listened, hoping to hear something that would allow him to profuse his feelings for the red eyed Genjustu user. Nobody else seemed to notice his lack of engagement in the conversation besides Hana, who was watching Naruto and Kurenai with interest.

"So, what did the bearded one do this time?" asked Kohari, as she sipped her lemon tea

"He thought that a good way to celebrate my promotion to Jonin was to go to a mixed bathing Hot Spring. He said that it would loosen me up for later that night."

Even Naruto winced as he realized that Asuma had said the wrong thing. That poor stupid man, what had he done.?  
With Kakashi and Hiruzen

Kakashi stood before the Hokage handing in his report on the abilities of his Genin, but more importantly, Naruto.

"He's progressed to the point that he can use 3 elements without any issues, that's further than I would have guessed. He always was a strong person, mentally and physically."

"No offense Lord Hokage, but what is your issue with Naruto that would make you want reports on him? He is a highly skilled ninja, we honestly could have used someone like him a long time ago."

"Kakashi, what I am about to tell you is a secret that I cannot afford to have leave this room. If it does, I will immediately have you executed in public for treason, do you still wish to proceed?"

Kakashi didn't say anything, but he gave a slight nodding of the head. Hiruzen flashed through some hand signs and the silencing seal in the Hokage's office were put to use.

"Naruto Uzumaki is not a loyal Shinobi of Konoha, is he a threat to the people of this village."

Kakashi's eye widen and he was shocked to hear such a thing.

"Are you sure sir? I mean if he is unfit for duty, than maybe he shouldn't be on an active roster, if he is a threat to his fellow Shinobi"

"That right there lays the issue, Kakashi. Naruto is fit for duty, he is of no danger to his fellow Shinobi nor has he had a complaint in the 5 years that he has been taking D Rank Missions inside of the village."

"Then I don't see the issue then, Lord Hokage. What is the problem is he's a model ninja?"

"The issue is that Naruto will not lift a single finger to help the people of this village. More specifically, the civilians of this village. You were in ANBU when they did those things to him, they scarred a boy who didn't know or understand why they were doing those things. The result? A person who emotions have been dulled towards the civilians of this village, besides the distain that he holds for them."

"Naruto hates the civilians for what they did to him? I mean you had all of them killed for what they did right? I am sure that if you told him that, this would all be cleared up."

"That would clear things up, if I had any of them killed."

"WHAT! YOU LET THEM GO AFTER THE WAREHOUSE?!"

"What would you have me do Kakashi, kill over 50 percent of the civilians in our village because of a single kid?"

"They stopped being people when they skinned him alive? How can you expect him to protect them when they've done things like that to him?"

"Because he doesn't know what was done to him. I could not have an angry jinchūriki running around my village full of hatred. So, the people who did the crimes and the victim of the crime, all had their memories wiped and everyone was given a fresh start."

"But they did it over and over again, you kept giving them a fresh start to finish what they started."

"You don't think that I don't know that? I live with what I did every single day."

Kakashi grit his teeth and his eye became as cold as steel

"You've spat on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage, my sensei. Do you really think that Minato would have allowed such a thing to happen to your son if the roles were reversed?"

No words came out of the Hokage and Kakashi growled.

"I doubt that Lord Jiraiya knows about this?"

"…"

"I will be taking my leave now, Lord Hokage, I will not ever be bringing this up again. Mostly because if this is ever brought up, I will not be able to control myself."

Hiruzen deactivated the silencing seals in the room and watched Kakashi leave.

"Hmm, he sure is angry huh? I can't imagine why he would be so angry, he never cared about anyone when I was on his team" said a dark voice from the corner of the room. A figure with an all black cloak and hood combo stood in the shadows of the room. Looking up, his hood lifted just enough to reveal an orange mask that had a spiral design on it. It also had a single eye who, and inside of the whole, if one were to look, you would find a single Sharingan eye,

"Well good bye, my puppet. Keep up the good work, I'll be back sooner than later" said the figure as he patted the old Hokage on the head, before getting sucked into the eye hole of his mask, disappearing without a trace.

 **A/N: Somewhat of a longer chapter, but this is kind of a part 1 of a 2 part chapter. I plan on picking right up with Naruto at the lunch scene again in the next chapter.**

 **So, what did you guys think of this one, let me know what you think with a comment, PM, or a tweet on my Twitter Page.**

 **Okay, so Kakashi evaluates Team 7 on the orders of the Hokage, who is being controlled by the masked man. Naruto is in the middle of a gift from the heavens above for his dating life and Hana is a cheap person who wants Naruto to spend his money.**

 **I know this story has a bit of an odd take on the Shinobi world, as I do make some stuff up because I find the show lacking some of the structure and order that I believe a real Ninja Society would have.**

 **My Naruto is very close to the Canon Naruto in different aspects. He's more skilled and smarter, but he doesn't have the Rasengan nor does he have Sage Mode. I have a plan on how he will achieve those as well, but it is still a work in progress. Now, I am not sure if he will know Jiraiya, so either comment or PM what you think about that.**

 **We also have seen people starting to want to see Naruto to be in the Chunin exams, as he would be a great story for the Village to exploit, as the village is a business and Shinobi are products. In the next chapter, we will be finishing the day of training, some missions, will be leading up to the mission to Wave. Oh, and of course some more Kurenai/Naruto interactions.**

 **Speaking of interaction, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. I am only a little salty that I have 11 followers as the posting of this chapter. Honestly, I might go on strike, probably not, but I could. I will never actually go on strike unless it's about my job banning gyros from the workplace.**

 **Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating. You can find real time updates on my stories on twitter, as I use the story title as a Hashtag.**

 **Now, the usual applies to that update date, it will all depend on my school and work schedule. As, I mentioned before I have actually just finished the paper work to declare my major, I am going to be a biophysicist. I can't wait to get my degree and ride off into the sun set, but after I also need to get prepared for my master's program starting this spring, and by spring, I mean the program that I have already started and lowkey hate. I also am in the process of getting a new job, so there is that as well. The job hunt is going poorly and I dislike being unemployed because I dislike not having money outside of what I had saved.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. So until next time, bye.**


	4. Chapter 4

**How Naruto was forced to become a ninja** _ **:**_

 _ **Hiruzen was having one of those days, where it seemed the universe was trying to get him to kill himself. The child who he loved like a grandson was apparently living on the streets with only the Kyuubi in his stomach keeping him alive so far. Then the young child's cardboard house was burned down, the very idea was haunting. No 5 year old should be living in a self-made cardboard house. Then the child wouldn't reveal to him who had done it, nor allow one of his specialist to enter his mind.**_

 _ **Then on top of all of the guilt and anger that series of events caused, the boy was attacked and then attacked back and then attacked once more. It was very terrible night, but the past was the past right? WRONG. Naruto had withdrawn deeper into himself and then he was called to an emergency council meeting. All in all it had been one of the worse 12 hours of his life. It was right up there with the Kyuubi attack that had resulted in the death of his wife. It brought him to this moment now, walking toward the council chambers with two of his personal ANBU bodyguards flanking his sides while slightly trailing.**_

 _ **Taking a deep breath, he pushed the doors to enter the council chambers open and saw that they were all here. As this was an emergency council meeting, the civilians where to send a single representative, but for this particular meeting, Hiruzen had foregone that protocol in this case, as there was no reason to create any extra opposing forces toward his goals. Looking around the Hiruzen saw the 20 people that made up the Shinobi Council for the Hidden Leaf Village.**_

 _ **The heads to the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Aburame, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Kurama, Nara, Sarutobi, and Yamanaka Clans where present as where his Jonin Commander, his Hunter Ninja Commander, his 4 ANBU Commander (A/N1: I will explain this part and the entire council set up in my author's note at the end), his head of Recon and Scouting, Head of the Police Force, and finally his 3 advisers, and the tie breaker of the Council being himself. The full 21 members of the Council was now here, and upon his entrance, the other 20 people jumped to their feet and snapped to attention. With a nod of his head, Hiruzen dismissed their salute and motion for everyone to sit down.**_

 _ **Talking his place at the elevated head table overlooking the U-shaped table that housed the other 20 members. "Okay, it is a mere 3 AM on a Tuesday people, now I am not sure why you people enjoy calling meeting at this ungodly hour, but let us get on with meeting." said a slightly cranky Hiruzen. His mood worsens when his adviser Danzo said "Shouldn't we wait for the Civilian Representative, it wouldn't sit well with them to find out that we aren't including them in our meetings, they will try to make things more difficult for us in the future."**_

 _ **Hiruzen flared his nostrils, before letting loose a tired chuckle. Smirking, he looked at this old rival in the eye and said "Funny, because you have never once cared for the civilians of this village, no you only care for the ninja who you want to mold into weapons. I'm sure that everyone remembers your failed Root program. I can't seem to remember how many emotionless husks you left behind, using your methods. As for the civilians, I, myself, gave the order to not include the representative in this meeting for this is strictly a shinobi matter, I care little for the opinions of those who don't know better, besides if the information that is said in this meeting is leaked, I will have everyone here charka's sealed and have your minds walked through one at a time until I find out who did it, then I will have you put to death for treason. I have learned my lesson from 5 years ago."**_

 _ **Danzo grit his teeth, as he knows that by reminding everyone of his methods, he will lose some support today, and the civilian representative would undoubtedly have supported him. It seems that today would not be his day, oh well you win some you lose some. Hiruzen looked around the room looking at the clearly surprised expressions that graced the faces of his ninja and said "Hello, I was called to this meeting by the likes of you people, not the other way around, So I, an old man who loves his sleep and has to you know, run this village in the morning would love for you to kindly inform me why this meeting was called."**_

 _ **Inoichi of the Yamanaka clan, rose up and stated in a voice the stated that he truly was a little bitch inside "The child has lost control, we need to re-open the topic of what we do with him. He is a danger to not just himself, but the rest of us as well. I would prefer that we keep him away from our civilians, our friends, and most importantly, our families especially our children." The room fell silent and Hiruzen could have sworn that the emotionless mask of Danzo cracked into disbelieve. Hiruzen looked at the supposed man in front of him and gave him that "Are you deadass right now" look that everyone makes when somebody says some dumb shit.**_

 _ **Shibi of the much manlier Aburame Clan, coughed and said "While I agree that it is not a good sign to have an insane container at this tender age, it is also illogical for us to blame a small child for lashing out at people who attacked them. If I were to attack you right now, would you not defend yourself, Inoichi?" Inoichi glared at Shibi and stated "Of course, but this is different. I don't hold a well of power that could flatten our village, if I lost my temper or control of emotions." This seemed by be something that was mutually agreed upon by the rest of the council and Hiruzen could see the seeds of doubt and little specks of fear in the council member's eyes, besides Danzo and the ANBU member, although the Head Hunter Nin looked super bored.**_

 _ **Hiruzen chuckled and drew the attention of everyone in the room and stated "Then we might as well have this topic extended to include myself in it. I have mastered almost every Justu that this village has to offer besides some Clan only techniques. If I was put in a bad enough mood or was in a battle that took place inside of the village, I could level the entire thing with charka to spare. Hell, I could massacre the entire group in this room with little to no effort, starting with you. So, what should we do about me, Inoichi?" The flower selling blond felt pressure from all around him and quickly said "Nothing my lord, it Is just that you are a grown man, while the child is just that a child."**_

" _ **Ah then you see the difference, do you?" asked Hiruzen and Inoichi nodded and Hiruzen continued on without any pause "I could and would kill you at any time that I wanted to, I would do it knowingly. It would not be because I am being attacked or because I am in a bad mood, I could do it because I am tired of listening to you bitch and moan at every meeting. On top of all that, I wouldn't need to summon the charka of a natural disaster." Inoichi gulped and Tsume stood up and said "What are we doing besides making fun of this flower selling bitch, we came here to discuss the situation that happened last night. Our future trump card is but a boy and thus should be treated as such until it is time for him to become a ninja. Once he becomes a ninja, we can decide whatever we want with him, how he well be trained, how he will do missions, all of that is in the future. There isn't any reason for us to talk about it today."**_

 _ **Hiruzen let loose a burst of air through his nose as Danzo stood and stated in an almost perfect monotone voice "Under Section 78B paragraph 11, All Jinchuriki are considered military assets from the time of the sealing until the day that they no longer hold the tailed beast is no longer being contained by their bodies and seals. I move that we utilize the boy as quickly and as much as possible, we could have him up to ANBU level in 4 years, and Kage level in 10."**_

 _ **Hiruzen choked at the blatant attempt to obtain Naruto and said, "it is funny who you didn't finish the rest of that paragraph Danzo, as the next line states that 'A Jinchuriki's rank is to be considered 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **in the entire village under Hokage, ANBU and Jonin Commander, and then Jinchuriki, followed by council members, then ANBU then Jonin …' and so on. You forget, only 6 people in this room have the authority to command that child to do anything. Until the time that the boy becomes a Genin, the people in this room simply have no control over him or his actions."**_

 _ **Danzo grit his teeth and then let a brief smirk cross his face before he said "Naruto Uzumaki is an orphan correct?" A collective yes rang out across the room and Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as Danzo continued "Well, seeing how orphans cannot enter the Shinobi Academy without a sponsor, I would like to hereby nominate Naruto Uzumaki for enrollment at the Academy, so that his training may begin and thus our village can safer in the near future rather than the distant future." Hiruzen glared at the pest like mummy and said, "You would need at least 11 of the 21 votes for that to happen Danzo."**_

" _ **Well then, I guess we will have to vote then, wouldn't we?" stated Danzo**_

' _ **That smug bastard has me right where he wants me huh? I guess we will have to put it to a vote?'**_ _ **thought Hiruzen before he gave the signal that a vote would be happening. He stood and said "Okay, since we are all here and Danzo had decided to try an weaponize a 5-year-old, we will vote one by one. I will start and then the ANBU Commanders, Jonin Commander, then Head Hunter Nin, the Advisers, then Alphabetically through the Clan Heads. I vote in the Negative." after that he sat back down as there was nothing more he could do on the topic.**_

 _ **The ANBU with the Horse Mask, dubbed Horse, stood and she said, "I vote in the Negative." before returning to her seat.**_

 _ **The ANBU in the Dragon Mask, dubbed Dragon, stood and he said, "I vote in the Positive" before sitting back down and avoiding his leader's stare, because he didn't want to see how angry he was.**_

 _ **The ANBU in the Wolf Mask, dubbed Wolf, stood and he lazily said "Hmm, I guess I will vote in the positive." and then returned to his seat. Hiruzen glared at this ANBU and thought '**_ _ **Really Kakashi, you would do that to your own sensei's son'**_

 _ **The ANBU who wore the Snake Mask, dubbed Snake, looked at Hiruzen before standing and saying, "It is too early to create a weapon that we could use, so for the now, I will vote in the negative." She stood back down and Hiruzen was unnerved about her basically saying "No, not right now, later"**_

 _ **Next up, his Jonin Commander stood up (**_ _ **A/N:2)**_ _ **, Ki Hyuuga, stone faced but overall kind Main House Hyuuga who was one of the most powerful ninja in the active roster at this time, stood up and looked to his leader and said, "I vote in the positive, even if we are not training him to be used as a weapon to throw in any direction, but he should be about to control himself." Sitting back Ki felt confident.**_

 _ **The Head Hunter Nin, Name not allowed to be disclosed to anyone outside of the Hokage, Doza Inuzuka, stood up and said, "I vote in the positive." he gave no reason or anything else because he simply didn't care**_

 _ **Danzo, the old ass mummy who was an asshole, didn't stand but said "Positive"**_

 _ **Homura stood up, pushing his glasses up, he said "I vote in the positive" and then he immediately sat down and placed his eyes in his lap because he couldn't look Hiruzen in the eye. Especially with the way that Hiruzen was glaring at him, he wished he was anyone**_

 _ **Koharu stood and she said, "I vote in the negative."**_

 _ **Hiruzen looked at the tally so far, through 10 votes, the tally wasn't going in his favorite, sitting at 4 to 6**_

 _ **Shibi Aburame stood up and said, "I will vote in the positive, it would make no sense to make the young Naruto capable of stopping himself."**_

 _ **Choza Akimichi rose to his feet and said "No, I wouldn't like for my son to made into a weapon, so I will vote in the negative." He sat back down and Hiruzen relaxed realizing that they only trailed by 2 votes, something that was easy to come back from when only twelve votes had been casted. With 9 more votes to go, Hiruzen was more than certain that they could close the gap.**_

 _ **Hiashi Hyuuga stood up like the noble that he was and said, "I vote in the negative, Minato didn't ask for us to make a weapon of Naruto Uzumaki, he asked for us to view him as a hero."**_

 _ **Tsume Inuzuka jumped to her feet and everyone looked at her as she said, "I vote in the negative, we are at peace, there is no reason for us to rush into something." Hiruzen nodded at those wise words and Danzo snorted as he knew of all of the danger that lurked outside of the walls of this village**_

 _ **Murakumo Kurama stood gently and said, "I vote in the positive, we have to make sure that he remains in control, and that requires practice and training." he dropped back into his seat, and Hiruzen groaned internally because they actual sound logic was the type of shit he didn't want to hear at a time like this.**_

 _ **Shikaku Nara stood up, but it was slow and took like 10 seconds, but when he did manage to get to his feet, he said "I vote in the negative, it would be too troublesome to force a child to do anything really."**_

 _ **Ash Sarutobi stood up (**_ _ **A/N 3)**_ _ **stood up and said, "I vote in the positive" he sat down really fast after that and Hiruzen sighed as one of his son's managed to disappoint him again**_

 _ **Fugaku Uchiha rose to his feet as graceful as a falling leaf, and said "I vote in the negative."**_

 _ **All eyes turned to Inoichi as he was the last of the clan votes and those might be able to push the scales in either direction. Inoichi climbed to his feet and said, "I guess that I will have to vote in the positive because I am the main complainer here."**_

 _ **Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he counted the tallies made so far it stood at 9 vs 10 and it still wasn't in his favor nor Naruto's and such it would come down to the Head of Scouting and Recon, and the Head of the Police Force.**_

 _ **The Head of Scouting and Recon was a large man by the name of Daino, one of the smartest people in the entire village, he stood up on his portly legs and said "I will vote in the negative, it just doesn't make any sense to try and force the boy into anything that he doesn't want. What if we make him into the very monster that our civilians call him, what if we make him so powerful that when he calls on THAT power, we cannot put him down even if we wanted to do so.**_

 _ **What if we build him up and then because of the very way that our people treat him, oh and make no mistake, they treat him like shit, that he grows to hate the people of this village and one of them tries something, and he kills them because he doesn't care because he has the power now.**_

 _ **I will not be the nail in the coffin that sends this boy into some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where he actually brings about the end of our village."**_

 _ **Everyone looked at Daino and realized that he could be sending them into a mess that they might not be able to clean up if they messed up too badly. With the speech fresh in their minds, they all looked at the Head of the Police Force, Yakumi Uchiha. The man who they said had no emotions, who stood and said "I believe that it is clear what I must do. I have to do what is right for the sake of us all. I will vote in the …Positive"**_

 _ **Hiruzen sighed heavily, the voting having taken almost a physical toll on him. "Okay, it is too be stated that as of July 19**_ _ **th**_ _ **, Naruto Uzumaki has officially been entered into the Shinobi Program Academy, effective immediately."**_

 _ **Everyone nodded and Hiruzen snarled with rage "Now get out of my sight before I gut the lot of you worthless sacks of shit"**_

Present Day:

Kurenai moved to sit in the only open seat, next to Naruto. She was in the process of sitting down, when the wooden chair snagged the back of her dress. The result was that when she sat all the way down, the dress ripped all the way down her back and her dress fell forward off of her body. This lead to the entire table getting a view of her in just her shorts, that they couldn't even see. . Kurenai felt a slight breeze and looked down only to see that the other people at the table now knew about her lack of a bra. She turned bright red from her face down to her stomach, but before she could do anything a small smoke bomb went off and when the smoke cleared seconds later, she was wearing an orange and black jacket that was zipped up all the way.

Naruto was now wearing a tight black t-shirt and everyone was surprised at how fast he managed to fix the situation for Kurenai. A waiter came over, with the manager standing in the distance, and asked "What was the cause of that smoke bomb?"

Naruto raised his hand and replied with, "Sorry sir, I was leaning back, and it slipped out of my leg pouch, I will pay for any inconveniences' that it may have caused, you can add it to our bill"

The waiter looked to his boss and got a nod and took their orders. It wasn't until after the waiter left with their orders that Kurenai even looked at Naruto.

"Thank you, Naruto, I'm surprised that you managed to move so quickly, you did it without me even feeling or realizing what you were doing until you finished."

"Well, I had to act fast, can't have the entire restaurant seeing you naked"

"I think that it was some amazingly fast thinking Naruto. I honestly don't know if any of us would have been able to react as fast" commented Hana

"Hana has a point, I was more dumbfounded by the rack on Mrs. Genjustu over here" the crude Anko said

"Anko, you know that you're not allowed to talk like that at any meal time, we had an agreement. And you know as well as I do, it is Ms. Genjustu, not Mrs." Retorted Kurenai.

"Oh, does that mean you dumped Asuma" asked Kagomi, hoping to catch some gossip.

"Well, we are on a break right now, mostly because he's an idiot" muttered Kurenai.

Naruto leaned back in his chair and just listened, hoping to hear something that would allow him to profuse his feelings for the red eyed Genjustu user. Nobody else seemed to notice his lack of engagement in the conversation besides Hana, who was watching Naruto and Kurenai with interest.

"So, what did the bearded one do this time?" asked Kohari, as she sipped her lemon tea

"He thought that a good way to celebrate my promotion to Jonin was to go to a mixed bathing Hot Spring. He said that it would loosen me up for later that night."

Even Naruto winced as he realized that Asuma had said the wrong thing. That poor stupid man, what had he done?

"Do you want me to stab him? I can and will do it for free" asked Anko, her eyes lit with a fire that promised pain

"No Anko. I'm not angry at Asuma, more disappointed in myself for not picking a better boyfriend. I just want someone who is honest, nice, smart, always happy to see me, and trustworthy." Said Kurenai

"Sounds like you want a dog" joked Hana

The girls at the table laughed and Naruto let a smile break on his face.

"Soooooo, Naruto. Are you dating anyone? Anyone catching your eye?" teased Anko as she wagged her eyebrows at Naruto

"I don't know Anko, are you offering yourself to me?" replied a calm Naruto

"Please, you couldn't handle me on my worst day. No, I was offering the chance to take our dear Genjustu Mistress here on a real date with an actual gentleman."

" _Anko, you can't set up dates for me while I am right in front of you"_ hissed Kurenai

"You're right Kurenai, but in all seriousness, I don't see Anko in that way, she's like that favorite cousin that everyone has."

"Oh, okay" muttered Kurenai as she sat up straighter in her chair, something that only Hana seemed to notice.

The Waiter popped back up with their food and set it down in front of them.

"Naruto! Is there a reason that you come to the best Sushi spot in the village and still end up eating Ramen?" asked Hana as her eyes twitched dangerously

"You eat what you know you like when you're paying for it" snapped back Naruto, ready to die to defend his ramen addiction.

"Hmm, so you're paying? Good because this outfit doesn't exactly have pockets to carry a wallet" said Kagomi

"You're Jonin vest has like 30 pockets on it, I can see the pockets" pointed out Kohari

"Shut up, I'm trying to get him to pay for this" whispered Kagomi

"You don't have to whisper, if I didn't want to pay for it, I wouldn't have said yes to Hana's invitation. The only time it seems that she wants me around is when she wants me to pay for something."

Suddenly, Anko, Kagomi, Kohari, and Kurenai thought of all of the Naruto stories that Hana had ever told them and their memories clicked.

' _Naruto does always pay for her stuff in her stories'_ thought Kohari

' _All of Hana's Naruto stories do involve him paying'_ thought Kagomi

' _That's not very nice of Hana to take advance of a nice guy like Naruto'_ thought Kurenai

' _That BITCH! I need her to teach me how she gets guys with money to continuously buy her shit'_ thought Anko

"Hey, I am not the bad guy here. It's all his fault, when we first became Genin, he told way more missions that my team did, so he spotted me for lunch one day. And then the next and the next and the one after that too. After like 20 times of his just paying, I stopped brining my wallet places because he always paid. That plus, I have the ultimate dirt of him" said Hana, trying to save her reputation

"Dirt, you say" asked Anko, eyeing Naruto with the greatest of interest

"What kind of dirt" asked Kohari

"The dirty kind of dirt?" asked Kagomi

"I don't think you need to be sharing that kind of information lightly Hana" said Kurenai as she looked at little flushed

Naruto gulped and refused to make eye contact with anything but his bowl of steaming noodles.

"I have to pieces of dirt on the whiskered one here, one is some normal embarrassing dirt and the other is the dirtiest of dirty dirt, but you can only pick of them to learn." The words that left Hana's mouth trapped the attention of each and every other girl at the table and Naruto groaned internally.

"Hana has a picture of me in my sleepwear, which is a toad-like sleeping cap, a white t-shirt and what I used as underwear at the time, ramen patterned underwear." Said Naruto

'You're move Hana, I told the embarrassing one' thought Naruto, confident in his move to force Hana to drop the topic

Hana deflated at the revealing of the embarrassing dirt on Naruto. Naruto drained his bowl of Ramen and motioned for another when he caught a glimpse of the clock in the corner.

"Well ladies, I never like to eat and run, but I only have 20 minutes to go home, take a shower, get changed, and make it to my training grounds to meet my Sensei. It's been fun, we should do it again sometime." Before he dropped a couple of hundred Ryo on the table and moved to exit.

Naruto had barely made it outside of the restaurant when Kurenai came racing out after him.

"Naruto wait up" she called out after him

Naruto turned around and looked at the gorgeous woman who was wearing his jacket and a pair of shorts.

"Is something wrong Kurenai?" asked the blond ninja

"You left without getting back your jacket" stated Kurenai

"Honestly, I didn't forget about my jacket Kurenai. I just know that you aren't really in a position to give it back to at this particular moment." Said Naruto, hinting at the lack of clothing under the jacket.

"I can't take your jacket from you Naruto, it wouldn't be right."

Naruto waved her off and smiled brightly "I can see worse ways to lose my jacket than to willingly give it to a very beautiful woman, such as yourself Kurenai."

Kurenai blushed lightly and shifted from one foot to another

"Thank you, Naruto. Both for the jacket and the compliment. I will pay you back for the jacket as soon as I can"

"Hmm, well I can see a way that we work something –" started Naruto, but he was interrupted by someone saying "Kurenai?"

They both looked and saw a tall tan man, with really dark brown hair bordering on black, a mostly full beard, a cigarette in his mouth. The man was also dressed in a standard Jonin uniform, but he also had a white and red sash around his waist that said "Twelve Guardians".

"Asuma" Naruto and Kurenai both said, both knowing the mostly asshole-ish man.

"Well, I'll be damn, little Naruto all grown up. I remember when you were 7,8 years old running around causing all types of trouble, screaming to the world that you would be Hokage. It is good to see you, I heard that you managed to land yourself an active roster spot on Kakashi's squad." Asuma said addressing Naruto before Kurenai

"Umm, yeah I did. I was actually on my way there right now" said Naruto has he felt that third wheel syndrome start to kick in

"Oh, well I will see you around. Maybe even have you show my squad a thing or two, if you have some free time, if you don't mind." Asked Asuma

"Sure" said Naruto as he waved goodbye to both of them and started walking away. Despite leaving the once upon a time couple, Naruto could still hear the two of them argue.

"So, Kurenai, mind telling me why you're half dressed in another man's jacket?"

"I don't owe you and answers Asuma, we're not dating anymore remember."

"Do not give me that shit Kurenai. Actually you know what, if you wanted to open your legs for the next man that walked by, I am glad that we aren't dating"

"Oh just go straight to hell, Asuma."

They two of them were interrupted by another female screaming "Flying Anko Kick of Doom"

Naruto didn't care about going home or showering any more, he just let his feet carry him. He actually ended up at the training grounds not that far from his team's training ground.

 _ **Hiruzen stood looking at the 15 year old Naruto who was panting on the ground a few feet away from him.**_

" _ **You put up a valid effort, Naruto. But do you know why I am called the God of Shinobi?"**_

" _ **Umm … I don't know, because you're as old as dirt?" mocked Naruto from his position on the ground**_

 _ **Hiruzen let out a chuckle and replied with, "No, I know every non-clan specific Justu in the village, along with mastering all 5 elemental chakra natures. I am famous from being about to start a Justu in my body, stop mid Justu, complete a different Justu before I finish the Justu that I stopped without having to restart it."**_

 _ **Naruto sat up and looked at his Hokage in amazement.**_

" _ **How … how could you do something like that?" asked the young blond**_

" _ **Well Naruto … I am the God of Shinobi"**_

Pulling himself out of his memories, Naruto continued his way to his team's training grounds, and when he got there he saw that everyone else was already there

"Naruto, you are late" called out Kakashi as he arrived

"Sorry Sensei, it will not happen again" replied Naruto

"I know that it will not" stated Kakashi before he addressed all three Genin "Okay, today we are going to set up our physical limits, our benchmark if you will."

"How are we going to do that Sensei?" asked Sakura

"First, you are going to hand over your recipes or receipts for your lunch, and then you're going to run until you are either pissing, shitting, or vomiting on yourself."

The Genin looked at him with horrified faces, which only made Kakashi chuckle.

"Bonus points if you do more than one of the three, **not get to it"** commanded Kakashi

 **A/N: So, I have provided a little more backstory on Naruto's past. We know that he and the Hokage were close, but now that their relationship is on the rocks. We also saw how Naruto was forced to become a Ninja, more on that at the beginning of the next chapter. Also, I was told putting explanations in middle of the story is annoying, so I tried to make a change with that.**

 **A/N1: The way that I see it, you can't have 1 ninja in charge of all the different fields of things. So, my version of the council has 4 ANBU commanders, 1 for assassinations, 1 for recon and surveillance, 1 for tracking and support, and 1 for the safety of the village and their land. They overlap a bit, but it is because I think that ANBU is broken up into tiers, the first and strongest tiers are the guys like Kakashi, they can kind of do it all, but don't have the signature style or ability. These are generally the Assassinations squads and the internal village protection. These guys are all like 8 out of 10 in most categories. The next tier is the specialist layer of guys. These are the elite trackers, the type of people who are like the Dad from taken and the medics, the planners. These people are 7 out of 10 in some key categories. These guys are generally not the same squad as the first-tier guys but are usually used for their strong suits only. These guys are mainly on the Tracking and Recon teams. The last tier is the most realistic tier. These guys are like the first-tier guys but worst. Instead of 8 out of 10 in most categories, these guys are like 5-6 in all categories. They make up the human meat shields that are on all squads, but their main purpose is Recon.**

 **A/N3: Hiruzen has more than one son, and nobody but the creator of Naruto knows his name. If you do, please let me know, but for now, I don't know and thus his name is Ash.**

 **A/N2, I know it isn't in order but I tried: Yeah, so the Jonin Commander would be Kakashi or the Nara usually, but does anyone mean to tell me that there isn't some super badass Hyuuga just chilling around like a number one draft pick, waiting to go on missions that are super crazy. Neji was an OG badass and although he was a prodigy, he can't be the only one.**

 **My Naruto is very close to the Canon Naruto in different aspects. He's more skilled and smarter, but he doesn't have the Rasengan nor does he have Sage Mode. I have a plan on how he will achieve those as well, but it is still a work in progress. Now, I am not sure if he will know Jiraiya, so either comment or PM what you think about that.**

 **We also have seen people starting to want to see Naruto to be in the Chunin exams, as he would be a great story for the Village to exploit, as the village is a business and Shinobi are products. In the next chapter, we will be finishing the day of training, some missions, will be leading up to the mission to Wave. Oh, and of course some more Kurenai/Naruto interactions.**

 **Speaking of interaction, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. I am only a little salty that I have 11 followers as the posting of this chapter. Honestly, I might go on strike, probably not, but I could. I will never actually go on strike unless it's about my job banning gyros from the workplace.**

 **Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating. You can find real time updates on my stories on twitter, as I use the story title as a Hashtag.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. So until next time, bye.**

 **Outtake: If Hana had called Naruto's Bluff, just for the guys who stood all the way until the end**

"I have to pieces of dirt on the whiskered one here, one is some normal embarrassing dirt and the other is the dirtiest of dirty dirt, but you can only pick of them to learn." The words that left Hana's mouth trapped the attention of each and every other girl at the table and Naruto groaned internally.

"Hana has a picture of me in my sleepwear, which is a toad-like sleeping cap, a white t-shirt and what I used as underwear at the time, ramen patterned underwear." Said Naruto

'You're move Hana, I told the embarrassing one' thought Naruto, confident in his move to force Hana to drop the topic

"I know how big Naruto is?" said Hana

Confusion passed over the group of girls faces and Kohari even muttered "But we can all see how tall he is" before it hit them.

"How big?" asked Anko immediately

Hana held up her hands somewhat close together causing the girls at the table to giggle and Naruto to scoff and make a face/

Naruto recovered and proceeded to climbed on his chair and say "Attention people of this establishment, may I have your attention!"

Hana glared at the single male at her table and hissed at him to go down.

As everyone in the building looked at Naruto, he continued his apparently very important announcement.

"My good friend Hana has decided to spread lies about me and my manhood, so I am about to set the record straight."

And with that, Naruto pulled down his pants and within a moment grew to full mass.

The result was almost every girl flying away from massive nosebleeds, a few guys as well.

The waiter came out of the back and said "I don't get paid enough for this."


	5. Chapter 5

**Minor A/N: All non-Naruto stories are being put on hold while I plan out some stuff. Oh, all stories are still going to be around 4.5k-6k words. Thank you for reading, now here is the story.**

 _Flashback: Naruto- at the age of 14 years 8 months_

 _Naruto was huffing and puffing on the ground, his body aching and his lungs praying for air, he was nearly on empty._

" _Get up and try it again" said a rough voice_

 _Naruto climbed to his feet and turned to the extremely damage tree off to the side of him._

" _I SAID GET UP AND TRY IT AGAIN!" Roared the same voice as before._

 _Naruto nodded and raised his hand into the air, flames covering the hand before he rushed forward and slammed the hand into the already damaged tree. The result was an explosion that sent Naruto flying back and landing on his back._

" _Get up and try it again" said a rough voice_

" _No, I don't want to. It doesn't work, because I can't control yet or because it's too unstable for me to use." Said Naruto angrily_

" _I don't care what you think, I said for you to get up and try it again" commanded the voice._

 _Naruto growled, and his hand once again ignited into flames, but this time, he didn't think about charging at the tree, he kept on building up his charka allowing the flames to build._

" _I didn't say to just stand there,_ _ **attack the tree**_ _" hissed the person who had been ordering him around._

" _No, why don't you try it if you think that this is such an amazing technique" spat Naruto before he momentarily lost control of his charka and the flames shot off of his hand and into the forest. The result explosion was huge and sent trembles all throughout the ground as countless trees fell or caught on fire._

" _See Naruto, you just needed to use it in a different way"_

" _Yeah sure, like you knew that would happen, that was an accident" retorted Naruto_

" _Well, I guess you're just going to have to recreate that accident over and over wouldn't you"_

" _I'm going home, I don't want to do this anymore. My clothes are burned and barely hanging on by a thread, my charka is literally burning my insides, and I really don't want to this anymore"_

" _I didn't ask what you want,_ _ **NOW GET BACK TO IT"**_ _roared the voice._

 _Naruto growled back as his charka spiked again and they could both feel the rising anger in Naruto, who just sighed._

" _Yeah sure, I'll start trying again, Lord Hokage" he spat_

 _Back to the Present Time_

They had been a team for a single month, 30 days. And it was honestly the most boring month of Naruto's life. Kakashi had been strict, forceful, and downright evil when it came to their training. Just not Naruto's training. He basically told Naruto that there wasn't a point on training him in any new techniques, Justu, or any new fighting styles that would further his skill level until he was in peak physical condition, as he would need to be as strong and fast as possible. Which was a little surprising as Naruto had thought that he was in pretty good shape, that was until he began Kakashi's training, then he realized how much stronger he could really become.

Kakashi would on random days come to Naruto's house and plant massive charka absorbing weights all over Naruto's body, somehow without ever waking Naruto. You have not felt discomfort until you wake up and you are magically several 400 to 600 pounds heavier than when you went to bed. So, while Naruto was working on his physical attributes, he was still seen as lightyears ahead of either of his teammates, which was a little saddening, as he had been an average student, while these two had been the cream of the crop, but neither of them were that much better than him at graduation point, if they were better at all.

Sasuke was clearly the better Shinobi of the two rookie Genin, and it wasn't even close. When the team was first put together, the gap between Sakura to Sasuke was the same as the gap between Sasuke and Naruto. Too wide to cover in any amount of time that the better Shinobi was still breathing. If Naruto was being honest about Sasuke, he for the life of him couldn't see the hype. Sasuke was mostly average in just about everything, making him a well-rounded Shinobi, but that was it. He had average strength, speed, charka reserves, Justu knowns, Taijustu, and Genjustu. The difference between him and most other Genin is that they were average in 2 maybe 3 of those categories, but Sasuke checked around 8 to 9 boxes.

That made him seemingly so much better than most other Genin because even if they could match him in 1 thing, they could most likely not match him in another thing. Sasuke was around a low Chunin level, which was still better than most of his classmates, but that wouldn't be getting him any real promotions in a Chunin exam because the exams were different. You couldn't barely Chunin level and expect to win anything, you had to clearly be a Chunin to advance. Over the last 5 years, Naruto had seen more than a couple of Chunin Exams, 6 in total.

Sasuke wasn't this all-time great prodigy that they were trying to make him out to be, Naruto had been old enough to remember Itachi Uchiha being in the village ,the way everyone was in awe of this 13 year old boy who was an ANBU member. When compared to his brother, Sasuke came up rather short.

At least Sasuke was prepared to be a Shinobi, having a solid foundation for growth and being capable enough that he wouldn't be killed by a basic bandit. But if Sasuke was a C to C+ ranked ninja, Sakura wasn't even on the ranking system. Everything about her needed to be improved, from her attitude to her physical abilities to her ability to actually through a punch to being able to use more charka than required for a normal illusion based clone at any given time without tiring. Did anyone expect her to be like Naruto with enough charka to make most Kages' blush with finding themselves lacking? Absolutely not. But the bitch could still be average.

Sakura in a nutshell was too weak, too slow, too much attitude, paid too little to her surroundings, too unprepared for the Shinobi lifestyle. There was only 1 thing that Sakura was even remotely average in. Care to guess what that was? Being a fan girl was an acceptable answer, but in terms of being a Shinobi, it was trap making and history. History doesn't help you on the battlefield other than being able to talk about how you got your ass whupped repeatedly. Her trap making was average because it was 100 percent textbook, which was the best thing she had going for her.

As Kakashi said "You literally can do nothing right, which means that you can forget about everything that you know about being a Shinobi. You aren't strong enough, you aren't fast enough, despite what people tell you, you aren't smart enough. You couldn't possibly be able to be any worse of a Shinobi. The good news is that the only lower you could go, is being buried 6 feet deep because you were killed. You can only go up from here, you can't get any worse"

Naruto thought she took the criticism pretty well seeing how she only cried for 15 minutes opposed to the nearly 45 minute episode when she got dirt in her hair the day before. That was 28 days ago, and since then Kakashi had basically broken Sakura and Sasuke to the point that they didn't have the energy to argue with him about being run into the ground. With Sasuke, Kakashi would go about correcting all of the small errors that he had. Bend you knee before you jump, rotate to your left as you dodge before you throw the punch, always use a log. The little things to mostly smooth over his Taijustu before he joined Sakura and Naruto in physical conditioning.

They all had different levels of conditioning training. Sakura had to run as many laps as she could in 20 minutes, take a 1 minute break and then run 1 less lap in 15 minutes take another 1 minute break before running 1 less lap in 10 minutes then working her way back up to her 20 minute mark. Every time she failed, she had to start over, it was a long and tiring process for the pink haired girl, but her stamina slowly began to pick up and over the course of a month, she went from restarting 17 times to restarting 2 to 3 times.

Sasuke had to run 30 laps in 12 minutes, followed by 1000 correct punches on a training dummy under the watchful eye of a Kakashi dummy followed by a 1000 kicks to the same dummy, all of which he had to do correctly, or he would start over. The days were long for Sasuke, but it was the running part that was the issue for him, but after they learned tree walking, he understood how to better control his body for that type of result.

Naruto's training was a little different as it varied in form from day to day. On the days with the massive weights on his body, he would do something similar to Sakura, but he would start with as many laps as he could in 25 minutes then work his way down to 10 minutes before working his way back up to 25 minutes. Then he would do the same punches and kicking training as Sasuke. On days without his weights, Kakashi would slap a charka suppression seal on Naruto and send him on a 50 mile hike that Kakashi would set up that was filled with set places for various exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, carrying weights from point to point. There was also a 2 hour lift on the hike or you guessed it, Naruto would get to start over.

But over the course of the month, they had all improved. Sakura was gaining stamina and her charka pool had expanded to the point that she was nearing where Sasuke started. She was still physically lacking strength, but her speed made her more suited for the option of being a Genjustu User than anything else at this point. Sasuke had ironed out some of his smaller footwork issues while picking up speed and more strength. He needed to become able to hit hard and fast. Naruto was slowly turning from a guy who used Charka to supplement his speed and strength to having the natural strength and speed that he had before.

The next step for each of them was simple to Kakashi, Sakura would begin building strength and learning Genjustu, Sasuke would continue to learn his fundamentals while still building his speed. Sasuke would probably acquire his Sharingan at some point sooner than later, he would need the speed to match his eyes or all he would get is a permanent slow motion version of the ass kicking engraved into his brain. Naruto would be taught several wind Justu while Kakashi would finish his elemental training while gifting him the Taijustu style that fit the blond's body type, the style of his father.

After a month of doing nothing but training his students into the ground and doing the D-Rank missions that were basically a chore. Kakashi decided that his team had made enough progress to deserve a reward, which he gave them not in a day off like they wished but a C-Ranked Mission. They entered the Mission Assignment and saw Team 8 there as well.

What Team 7 was not expecting was for the Hokage to be there again. But there he was, the old man was sitting in his robes and hat, pipe alit. The usual workers are there as well, but they didn't seem to be running it like they used to, not while the Lord Hokage was present.

"Lord Hokage, what a pleasure to see you again" said Naruto in the most monotone voice anyone had ever heard.

"It is always good to see you again Naruto, are you keeping up with your training? You know how much I hate to hear about a lack of training" said the Hokage as he took a puff of his pipe.

Naruto just grit his teeth and walked behind the rest of the group of the two teams and just ignored the Hokage. Sakura shot him a glare for his disrespect, but Naruto's piercing eyes sent her head turning back the other way. Hinata looked at Naruto and the other two Genin on his team and tried to see what she could put together what their team dynamics were like. They looked comfortable enough in each other's presence but didn't seem like friends like she was with Kiba and Shino.

"So, Kakashi what brings you here today? I could give you a RR-117 or maybe you want the Genin to get a little cardio? I could look the other way if you wanted a TSP-227." Said the Hokage

"Tempting, but I was thinking of something more than a storage cleaning or transportation mission, I was hoping that you would allow my team to get a C-Ranked mission today."

"Hmm, I don't know. How many missions have you completed in the last months? Your record shows only 28, which is 7 missions short of the base requirements of the rookie Genin team." Said Iruka, while Hokage simply shrugged at Kakashi

"We have 2 new Genin on this team, but I also have Naruto, Iruka. Surely that gives me a little leeway with the rules. Have you seen this kid, he's more suited to be your boss than a Genin at this point?"

One of the Chunin scoffed and said "Yeah sure, the kid isn't a kid. He's a 17 year old young adult, if he was qualified to be a Chunin, he would be one at this point."

The Hokage winced and everyone looked at the old man wince.

"It seems Hito, that you are currently dead" said Hiruzen

"Huh?" said Hito before he realized that he had a kunai to his throat and Naruto was standing behind him.

'I never even saw him move' thought the generic Chunin.

"Okay, I give you the last C-Ranked mission that we have, will you take Naruto and leave. The last thing that I need to be forced to clean up a puddle of Hito's urine because Naruto showed him that talent and rank don't really matter." Asked Iruka

Kiba and Sakura snickered as Hito blushed heavily.

"Sure" said Kakashi

"I would hate to be that guy, but wouldn't you say that since I was here first, my team has actually completed the numbered needed to get the C-Ranked mission, oh you know, the fact that you were about to give it to my team, mean that I should get the mission" stated Kurenai rhetorically

"Oh, my kami-god, I hate it that you Jonin are always in this "my students are better than your students" arguments. As far as I am concerned, my students are better than all of your students." Said the Hokage, getting an eye roll from just about everyone.

"How about you both go on the mission. This way you can both leave, and I get some peace and quiet for a moment." Suggested the old man Hokage.

"That works for me" said Kakashi quickly, trying to put the pressure on Kurenai, trying to make her the unreasonable one.

"whatever" she huffed as she was backed into a corner and forced to let Team 7 go with them on the mission or seem like she didn't want another fellow Genin team to come along with her team, which could hurt her in the future.

"Somebody let in Tazuna." Said the Hokage as he felt a headache coming on.

A generic Chunin opened the door and in walked Tazuna (Not describing him).

The old man was clearly a drunk as he walked in smelling of the not kid friendly drink along with having a bottle of the stuff in his hands.

"My name ssss Tazuna, Imma master builder" said Tazuna as he slurred slightly.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Kurenai looked at each other and it was like they could hear each other's thoughts ' _It is going to be one of those missions'_.

Kakashi cleared his throat and said, "Yes, I'm sure that you are. We're going to take you to back to the Land of the Wave, Tazuna."

"Yea and say until the bridge is finished ri?" asked Tazuna asked, showing that the alcohol wasn't affecting him nearly as much as anyone thought. Although nobody would say that his next words were all that bright.

"So, where are the real ninja? All I see is a bunch of short brats, an obviously stupid girl with pink hair because who really has pink hair, a guy with 1 eye, a woman who looks like a better lay than ninja, and a tall brat who looks like he has an attitude problem." Said Tazuna before he took a sip from his bottle.

Kakashi chuckled and Naruto grabbed the back of Kiba's and Sakura's shirts to prevent them from rushing at the old bridge builder.

"Okay, listen up guys. We will meet up in 2 hours at the Village gate. Don't be late" warned Kakashi before he disappeared in a burst of smoke. The younger Genin walked out and left Naruto and Kurenai behind with Tazuna.

"Okay, Tazuna. We will see you in a little bit" Kurenai told him before she walked out followed by Naruto.

"So, how have you been Naruto?" Kurenai asked Naruto as they walked down the stairs towards the exit.

"I've been good, Kakashi has been running us ragged with his training. I thought that my training was intense before, but he seems to always be able to take it up another level whenever we start to get comfortable."

"Really? I never thought of Kakashi being that type of teacher."

"Huh?"

"Well Kakashi is fairly lazy most of the time. Outside of most B-Ranked to S-Ranked missions, he's basically a sloth. Barely moving and extremely lackadaisical."

"That isn't how he is with us. He is constantly pushing us, finding new ways to break us down. He has broken us down, finding flaws, things that we can improve. And physically, that's what he's focused on me only."

"why focus on your physical abilities only?"

"I'm not sure if I am being honest, but from what he's told me, it is because that's what I need to get to the next level. He believes that if my speed and strength are organic, without any charka enhancement, that it will better suit me in the long run."

"That makes sense though, maybe there is some merit to it."

"What about your team? How are you training them?"

"Well, I got 3 clan kids, so you know how that goes. I can only try to enhance the things that they know already. Can't teach them Genjustu or Taijustu, and none of them really have any use for a Ninjustu outside of their clan ones. It is a bit of bother that they aren't more skilled either, because at least then I would be able to get a decent workout in our training."

"I understand where you're coming from, my teammates aren't exactly world breakers either. Not that I am either, but the gap between them and myself is the gap between myself and Kakashi, and it isn't getting smaller anytime sooner."

"It is because as we continue to live in these times, the academy requirements drop more and more, the Genin produced today wouldn't have graduated 5 to 7 years ago. Mostly because what was taught was different, there was more combat driven classes. It was more training and less learning, but with the rising number of civilian children who are enrolling in the academy, the graduation standards have dropped to allow them to have a chance to graduate as well."

"You seem to know a lot about the politics behind the falling standards of the academy"

"Well, when you go on a couple of dates with the Hokage's son, you tend to hear a couple of rants."

"Oh yeah, how are things with Asuma?"

"There isn't a thing with Asuma anymore, he's a jerk"

"Eh, you're not wrong. He was pretty mean to me when I would visit the Sarutobi Housing when I was a little kid. I remember how happy old man Hokage was when he left to join the 12 Guardians."

"Oh, they don't get along?"

"Yeah, Asuma lacks certain characteristics-"

"That you possess Naruto. One's that my son never had" said the voice of the Hokage behind the two slowly walking Shinobi.

They turned around and both said "Lord Hokage"

"At ease, I was just going for a walk to stretch my legs, I can't stand sitting behind the desk all day long. There is more to life than paperwork." Commented the Hokage

"There sure is, that is why you could never convince me to try and become Hokage" said Naruto. Kurenai's eye widen, but she remained silent and just listened.

Hiruzen sighed and asked Naruto "Are you still on that? Why wouldn't you think about becoming Hokage? It is a noble aspiration to have, one that you should understand"

"I don't think being Hokage is for me. The people have to respect you, look at you for leadership. We know how they look at me."

"You could change that Naruto, by becoming the ultimate protector of the people. They would see you the way that you want them to."

"Yeah, I don't think. I cannot harm them, and I will not allow them to be harmed while I am at the scene, but that's as far as I will go. I will not sacrifice myself for anyone who treats me the way that they do."

"Very well" said Hiruzen before he turned and walked off.

Kurenai frowned and asked Naruto "What was that about?"

"it is a long story Kurenai"

"Well Naruto, it is a good thing we have a long walk to the Land of Wave then"  
High above both of them was Tobi sitting on the Hokage's Monument.

"Hmm, so the Kyuubi Brat doesn't care for the people of this village? Well that will certainly be something to keep an eye on for the future." Tobi thought aloud to himself before he disappeared

At the Village Gate:

Naruto arrived and saw that everyone but Kakashi and the client was there.

"Naruto, where is your backpack?" asked Sakura looking at Naruto who is had come with nothing more than his normal clothes. The other Genin looked at Naruto and then at Sakura.

"They didn't teach any of guys sealing in the Academy?" asked Naruto confused as to why everyone had backpacks and why Sakura was asking him that type of question

"Sealing? Why would they teach us something like that? It doesn't have any real world applications" said Sakura to which Naruto and Kurenai shared a look before Naruto made a face that showed disappointment.

"Sakura, do you know anything about how they stop Biju? Anything about the Fourth Hokage?" asked Kurenai

"Can't you just kill the Biju, that's what the Fourth Hokage did. And what does sealing have to do with the Fourth?" asked Sakura

"You can't kill a mass of charka Sakura. The only way that you can stop a Biju attack is to seal it into something or for the more powerful Biju, you have to seal them into a person. As for what sealing had to do with Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage? Everything. He was a sealing master, trained by the sealing master and one of the Sannin Jiraiya. His most famous techniques were a blood related seal technique, the Flying Thunder God Technique was sealing at its finest." Naruto informed the pink haired girl and the rest of the Genin

"Well said Naruto, but the history lesson is over." Said Kakashi as he arrived with Tazuna, who looked more sobered up.

Kurenai and Kakashi both looked at each other before whispering about something. Whatever was said made Kakashi look visible uncomfortable, but Kurenai quickly spoke, drawing the attention to her and off of her silver haired coworker.

"We have a long trip to get to the Land of Wave, we should head out. Our formation will be Kiba and Sasuke in the front separated by about 4 feet. Sakura and Hinata you will be close to Tazuna on either side of him. Naruto and I will be covering the rear closer together while Kakashi trails us for back up support. We are basically moving in a V shape. Everyone understand?"

Getting nothing but Yes's all around, they got into formation and set off for their mission to the Land of Waves

 **A/N: This story might actually be my most underrated story. I like the feel of it, it's a bit colder than some of my other stories, but it also feels more emotional. It has a nice balance to it, it feels like there is so much unknown about what already happened and what will happen. That might be part of the mystery aura that I get whenever I reread any of my chapters.**

 **Now, from what I've learned is that when Itachi graduated from the Academy, the requirements were lasting in spar against your instructor for like 3 mins, the 3 standard Justu, an academic test, some type of obstacle course, and the weapons throwing test. Naruto's canon test was literally the 3 Justu, Weapons, History test, and a physical examination with Naruto failing the history test and the clone Justu every time. That seems a little watered down because it went from a multi-leveled test on multiple topics to a history test. The sparring probably failed some kids, so I can see why they would get rid of that.**

 **With each and every given chapter that I write, we learn more and more about the complicated relationship between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Naruto. The third Hokage is interesting because he is so powerful and while we see a glimpse of that in the fight against Orochimaru and the other 2 Hokages, we never get to see how powerful he truly was. He was said to have mastered every Justu in Konoha and all elemental natures. For those of you who are wondering when and how he managed to fall under Tobi's control, don't worry the answer will be coming up sooner than later.**

 **Now like a Marvel Movie, here is some mid-credit/Author Note scenes**

 **Alternate Scene: Mission Assignment**

"I would hate to be that guy, but wouldn't you say that since I was here first, my team has actually completed the numbered needed to get the C-Ranked mission, oh you know, the fact that you were about to give it to my team, mean that I should get the mission" stated Kurenai rhetorically

"Kurenai, you don't need this kind of mission. Your team is very solid, but I know for a fact that my team is more equipped to deal with any mission that we're given better than every Genin team in all of Konoha." Said Kakashi

Somewhere in the distance, Kabuto and his 2 Jonin level fake Genin teammates all sneezed at the same time and their sensei gave them a look and said, "You better not be getting sick, I don't want to deal with that."

"Are you saying that my students aren't as good as yours?" questioned Kurenai

"Uhhh, yeah. I have Naruto, you could take my two other students and Naruto by himself would still be better than all 5 of the other Genin here combined.

"Yeah right, he can't be that good." Said Kurenai looking at Naruto through the side of her eyes.

"How about a wager, Naruto vs the other 5 Genin. Naruto wins, my team gets the mission. Your team wins, you get Sakura and the mission" said Kakashi.

"Sakura and the mission?" question Kurenai

"She's a budding Genjustu with almost 10 times the charka reserves that she had in the academy" said Kakashi as he dangled Sakura in front of the red eyed beauty.

"Deal" said Kurenai

1 massive ass whupping later

"Wow, I can't believe he used Sakura to beat the other Genin. That was brutal" whispered Kurenai as she just finished the most one sided fight she had ever seen.

"You can keep Sakura if you want" said Kakashi "I will just take the mission and Naruto"

"What about Sasuke?" Kurenai asked as she pointed to the Uchiha kid crying on the ground with bruises all over.

"What about Sasuke?" replied Kakashi

 **So, in the next chapter Naruto will begin to explain the falling out that he had with the Third Hokage to Kurenai and we will start to see the Land of Wave mission action start up. The Naruto and Kurenai romantic interactions are going to start around the Chunin Exams Arc, but don't hold me to an exact chapter just yet.**

 **Speaking of interactions, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply, and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between, sometimes.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Unless you're going to be a dick about it, then you can literally kick rocks.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Flashback:_

 _14 years and 11 month year old Naruto stands in a training ground that is absolutely destroyed._

" _You're making progress with it, but I still don't think that you're giving it your all, Naruto" stated the Third Hokage._

" _Oh yeah, let me just master this Justu that took 3 years to develop and a 1 year for one of the greatest Shinobi in the world to learn himself." Snapped back Naruto_

" _Well he wasn't you, so it doesn't matter. I expect better from you while I am teaching you." Relied Hiruzen_

" _Sure" muttered Naruto as he held his arm up and began to channel chakra through it._

" _Focus on the strength of the chakra, feel how strong it is and how strong it can be. Feel the strength, but still be in control. Know your limits, allow it to grow, but contain it to what you will allow it to grow to. And remember, this is supposed to be flowing in a circle, do not make me repeat that again." Instructed the Hokage_

 _Naruto listened and nodded, but his eyes never left his arm. The chakra built and leaked out as it spun faster and faster. His control was complete, and his power was perfect._

" _Launch your attack at the Tree there, Naruto" said Hiruzen as he pointed out a tree._

 _Naruto nodded before rushing forward towards the tree before stabbing his right hand forward. The result was the elemental blade of Lightning and Wind tearing into the tree before exploding outwards in a massive tornado of lightning and wind._

" _Very good, Naruto. The Second Hokage much like myself was a man who wanted to create as many Justu as he could. That was just one of the many that he created."_

" _He truly is a man of legendary ability." Said Naruto looking at the destruction of the Justu._

" _Yes, as all Hokage are, you must have no sizable gaps in your abilities."_

" _Huh? What do you mean?" questioned Naruto_

" _I thought that I made that clear Naruto, did I not? I desire for you to become Hokage one day." Said the Third Hokage_

 _Flashback End_

They had been walking for a mere couple of minutes before Sakura started to complain about something or another. It might have been about when they were going to get there, but who really knows. Naruto knew that he didn't care and that was all that matters.

"So, do you have any plan as to tell me what that was about back there? Or do I have to make wild guess after wild guess until something sticks?" asked Kurenai

Naruto made a "What?" face at her before chuckling.

"The Hokage thing is pretty simple, he wants me to become Hokage and I would rather jump off of a 1000 foot cliff than do so."

"But why you? I know that you are skilled greatly beyond your rank, but that isn't uncommon. What makes you so special?" asked the red eyed beauty

"Not many people could say that they were trained for the Hokage position. The Third Hokage used to give me biweekly training until I was 14 and then once a month until I was 15. He kept pushing me for the position, hoping that I would say yes. But I have no desire to give my life for people who wish to see it end." Answered Naruto

"Wow, to be trained by Lord Hokage himself, what an honor. But if he knows the skills that you possess, why does he not simply promote you?"

"Because that would be too easy, where would the fun in that be? He would make me suffer and earn my keep like everyone else, one step at a time. I like it that way as well, I would rather get no special treatment and earn things myself than to agree to take on a job that I could never give my heart to and soar through the ranks."

There was a silence that filled the air after Naruto finished speaking, one that was broken only by the soft crunches of leaves on the ground. Or at least that was the only sound until Kurenai spoke to Naruto again.

"You may think that the people of the village don't care about you, but there are some people who do care about you. Hana, Anko, Kakashi. You should hear the way that man gushes about you in the Jonin lounge. He has never even passed a team until you came along. I think that he was waiting for a student like you to come along. Someone who could give him 100 percent of their drive and attention to his training." She said to her blond walking buddy

"That is a rather short and pathetic list of people who care about me. 17 years in a village and I got a list of 3 people, amazing" came the sarcastic Naruto response.

"Hmm, 3 people. That doesn't sound right. I guess you could add me to the list as well Naruto." Said Kurenai, her cheeks lightly dusted with red

"Well that makes it more worth it, the affections of one, Kurenai Yuhi is worth more than the love and care of the other 3 people without a doubt." Said Naruto grasping his heart over his jacket

"Oh, shut up, I can and will take my caring back" teased the raven haired beauty

Neither of them was aware that up front Sakura had broken formation to talk to Kiba for a second.

"Kiba, can you hear what Naruto and your Sensei were talking about back there?" asked Sakura

Kiba nodded and said, "I think your teammate is going to try and bone my sensei"

Sakura just looked confused and slowed down so she could fall back into her formation position.

Suddenly all of the laughter in the experienced duo's minds and mouths as they spotted a puddle.

' _It hasn't rained in almost 17 days, there shouldn't be a puddle out here'_ thought Naruto

Kurenai had similar thoughts _'It has been over 2 weeks since rain has fallen. That puddle doesn't belong here. I guess this will be our first test.'_

They walked by the puddle, first Sasuke and Kiba. Then Sakura, Hinata, and Tazuna. Then Naruto and Kurenai, and finally the trailing Kakashi.

Mere seconds after Kakashi walked by reading his porn, two figures morphed out of the puddle and lashed out with chains. The chains wrapped around Kakashi who muttered a "Not now Anko" before he realized that he was being ripped to shreds by the spike covered chains.

"NO KAKASHI SENSEI" Screamed Sakura in her Sakura way.

" That's 1 down, 6 to go" said one of the figures before they rushed forward and ripped Naruto and Kurenai to shreds. After having taken out the biggest threats, they turned their eyes on Tazuna.

"Hand over the old man and nobody gets hurt" hissed the one on the left.

"I think that's enough" said a female voice behind them.

They turned and saw Kurenai who was smiling at the brothers.

"The Demon Brothers from the Hidden Mist, you are quite the duo." She said

"We killed you, how can you be alive?" asked the brother on the right

"Because none of this is real" said Kurenai before she exploded into bubbles.

The world around the two of them spun as they were released from the Genjustu and brought back into the real world.

"Shino, take care of them" commanded Kurenai before a Tazuna exploded into a massive cloud of bugs that promptly attacked the Demon Brothers. As the duo of missing ninjas were being drained of their chakra, Naruto appeared behind both of them with 2 Kunai drawn, before he slammed the hilt of the knives into the heads of the Brothers.

Sakura looked at Kurenai and asked. "When did Shino get here?"

"Shino was always there Sakura. Kurenai put a Genjustu around our group to make it look like Shino was Tazuna. What it does is create the illusion that Tazuna was being protected by our weakest members, when in reality it was another shinobi who was capable of protecting himself and the others around him." Stated Kakashi from the back of the group, with Tazuna right beside him.

"We were in a Genjustu?" asked Sakura

Everyone, including Kiba and Hinata nodded.

"Sak sakura, d did yo you not no notice?" asked the stuttering mess that was Hinata.

Sakura just deflated and Kakashi groaned in his head.

' _I spent an entire month rebuilding this girl into something average of a newly minted Genin and she fails to prove that she can breathe without instruction. I will never hear the end of this from Kurenai or anyone that she tells.'_ Thought Kakashi

Kurenai had a different take on Sakura _'I thought that she was supposed to be a budding Genjustu user? I don't understand how a Genjustu user didn't feel Genjustu being used. And this is Kakashi's student? The other two are skilled in just about everything, and she's so far behind. I am going to tell everyone in the Jonin Lounge about this.'_

"Now that we have gotten past the destruction of Sakura's self-esteem, can we move on to the real topic at hand here?" asked Naruto, drawing the eyes of all of the Genin, but Sakura who was trying her best to become a puddle.

"Naruto is right, the topic at hand is why was there actual Missing Ninja after you Tazuna. The Demon Brothers are Chunin level Shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those two are both B Ranked Shinobi, meaning that this mission is easily above a C ranked mission like the one that you asked for. Would you like to explain yourself?"

Tazuna just gulped at Kakashi's words, before struggling to put his own words together.

"M my village is very poor, we have no money for high priced mission. We could have not afforded anything more."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow "Yet, you can afford to build a super bridge?"

"Can we afford it? No, everything that goes into our bridge costs us lives of either my workers or their loved ones. It is all because of that swine Gato. If he never had come and taken over the Wave, we wouldn't need a bridge to survive." Tazuna answered fiery.

Kurenai, Naruto, and Kakashi's eyes all widen at the name, Gato.

"Gato? The company owner?/one of the richest men in the world?/ The business man?" asked Kakashi, Kurenai, and Naruto in that order.

The other 5 Genin looked confused, they had no idea who this Gato person was. Nor did they have an idea about why he would be important enough for 3 Shinobi to know about him.

"Gato is a shipping magnate and founder of Gato Company. When he first came to the Land of Waves, he brought a large amount of exports and products with him. However, what we didn't know is that he also was secretly a drug dealer as well as the owner of a smuggling business and attempted to take control of the Land of Waves. He quickly set up a monopoly on all of the business in Wave and used hired thugs to get what he wasn't given immediately.

He has basically held an entire country hostage for almost 2 years, the only thing that can stop him is my bridge. He knows the threat that my bridge poses to him and his goals, that is why he has tried to get me killed." Explained Tazuna in a somber tone.

Kakashi rubbed his chin before he waved Naruto off to the other Genin, allowing the adults to have a conversation on their own.

"Hmm, these were 2 Chunin level ninja that were sent after us right now, that means that our next opponent will most certainly be of Jonin caliber. I am unsure of how we should proceed" Kakashi stated.

"You make valid points, the next threat will be of the same level as you and myself, that isn't something that we could put our Genin through." Kurenai added, not feeling comfortable with having a Jonin level battle with her Genin on the sidelines.

"But what about me? They will surely kill me if I continue on my own? Then what will happen to my country? My family? You would doom thousands?" asked a crying Tazuna

"Kurenai, I know that this isn't something that any of us would willingly go into without proper support, but we do have 2 Jonin and Naruto here. That is more than enough fire power for any run of the mill Jonin to be able to handle." Said Kakashi

"You put that much faith into Naruto?" asked Kurenai

"I would trust that blond with my life" said Kakashi with conviction.

"Okay then, so we move onward with the mission." Said Kurenai

"Okay listen up gang" said Kakashi drawing the attention of the Genin, "We've decided that with the group that we have assembled here right now, we can complete this mission without anything too bad happening."

Tazuna let out a happy chuckle and the Genin all nodded prepared for the mission to continue.

"Now in the front will be Naruto and Kurenai, allowing us a strong point of attack, Shino Kiba, and Sasuke will surround Tazuna behind the two up front. Sakura and Hinata will be directly behind Tazuna while I will between them. There is 8 of us, we shouldn't ever be in a situation that endangers the client. Now let's get a move on it," commanded Kakashi

Back in the Village: Hokage's office

The Third Hokage was going about his normal Hokage day. This meant that he was dying from the ever growing boredom of doing paperwork or listening to people report their missions. Hiruzen understood that they were important, but he was old and tired. He didn't care as much as he used to.

He was savoring a rare moment where there was no paperwork and there was no mission report to listen to, when a Chunin messenger burst into his room with a scroll in hand.

"Lord Hokage, we have received an urgent mission from the joint mission of Team 7 and Team 8." Said the generic dumb fuck

"Well give it here, don't just stand there" roared the Hokage.

The Chunin gave the Hokage the scroll and quickly left the room. Hiruzen flashed through some hand signs and the ANBU in the room left as well, before all of the security seals in the room flashed as they were activated. With the room now sound proof and no Byakugan being able to see into the room, Hiruzen unraveled the scroll and read it.

"Hmm, Kakashi and Kurenai have run into a pair of Chunin level ninja with a possible Jonin level ninja opponent in the near future. The two of them should have this under control and with Naruto there as their backup, there is no problems." Mused the Hokage out loud before he realized that in his quick thinking, he was alone for the moment.

"Well since everyone is gone, and my office is sealed, might as well continue on reading the latest issue of Icha Icha book" said the Hokage as he pulled out the sacred test from his desk.

Behind the Third Hokage was a slight rippling of air as Tobi listened to the Hokage's report.

' _It seems Naruto is on his way to the Land of Waves, this is the first time that I can remember that he is being sent out of the village on a mission in forever'_ thought Tobi before he turned his attention back to the Third Hokage who was reading porn in his sealed off office.

' _Sarutobi grows harder and harder to control with every passing week that I have him under control, soon I will not be able to control him at all. I will need to pay Orochimaru a trip to see if I can't push him into killing the old goat before I lose control forever.'_ Thought the masked Sharingan User.

Tobi turned and looked through the window that overlooked the village, the many citizens of the Hidden Leaf Village looking like ants from the high up office.

" _I think that I will send a surprise to the Wave, I need to see where everything is at in terms of being in line with my plan."_ Thought Tobi before he warped out of the office, so that he can set his next move into motion.

Back with Team 7 and 8:

They had arrived on the banks of the Land of Waves after a short boat ride by a guy who was entirely too paranoid for a guy traveling with 8 ninja. They had taken a short break upon arrival but were ready to continue their journey with the new formation. Naruto was in the front of the triangle formation that they had, 5 steps in front of the other 5 Genin who were wrapped around Tazuna for maximum protection. To the left of the group at a 3 step distance was Kakashi, while on the right side of the middle group at a 3 step distance was Kurenai.

This gave them the proper balance of attacking up front with Naruto leading the charge, but with Kakashi and Kurenai off to the side. But Kakashi and Kurenai were also in a position that would allow them to offer support to the Genin around Tazuna in a moment's notice. The only reason that Kakashi was not up front was that he was still much smarter and battle savvy than Naruto, he would know the appropriate course of attack to take. Whether that be to support Naruto up front or to give the Genin in the middle a primary defender on a level that none of them were close to reaching. Kurenai wasn't up front because she lacked the total assault package that Naruto or Kakashi had, with her strengths being speed, solid Taijustu, and of course her legendary Genjustu.

They march onward in that formation, until they entered a clearing where Naruto sensed something off to his left in the bushes. Quickly throwing a kunai at it, Naruto felt whatever was in that spot shift into something else. Kakashi went into the bushes and came back holding a snow white bunny.

Sakura gasped and said "Naruto, you idiot! You almost killed a bunny" as soon as she saw the bunny in Kakashi's hands.

Kurenai simply shook her head and said "Sakura, you don't see anything wrong with a snow white bunny in the middle of summer? That bunny should be a mild brown or a dark tan. That means that this bunny has been kept inside."

Hinata looked at the bunny and managed to get out "T that m means t that th this is some someone's p pet?"

Kurenai nodded at the stuttered question and Kiba and Kakashi started to sniff the air.

"Get down" called out Kakashi as he pulled down Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto grabbed Kiba and Tazuna, while Kurenai grabbed Hinata. Shino didn't need to be grabbed as he dropped the instant Kakashi started to all out Get.

A massive blade came swinging through the clearing in a massive curve. It swept down at about waist level before arcing back up and slamming into a tree high above everybody's head. A figure dropped down on the handle of the massive sword as the blade was firmly stuck in the thick trunk of the tree. The man was a tall and noticeably muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows.

When they looked closely, they saw that he was wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. He wore his forehead protector sideways on his head, and prior to his defection from Village hidden in the Mist.

Also, he was seen shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his sword that was currently stuck in the tree, wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of the Hidden Mist Village and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

Three members of our group immediately knew who he was, while the other 6 were clueless to the man before them was.

"I see, the infamous Kakashi Hatake, the Copycat Ninja. And who is he joined by? None other the Kurenai Yuhi, THE Genjustu Mistress of Konoha. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Village Hidden in the Mist." Countered Kakashi making Sakura gasp as her knowledge of foreign ninja kicked in.

"You flatter me with knowledge of my name and who I am, Kakashi. It also surprises me that a tree hugging village like yours knows of a real Shinobi such as myself." Said Zabuza as he jumped from the tree pulling his large blade with him.

"Now, why don't you hand over the bridge builder and I will allow you to leave with your lives." Said Zabuza as he pointed his legendary sword Kubikiribōchōat them.

"I'm afraid that we can't do that" said Kurenai confidently

"Listen lady, I am giving you the chance to not throw away the lives of everyone in your group. This is my final warning, leave now or suffer the same fate as the bridge builder." Warned Zabuza

Kurenai simply smiled and made a single hand sign before bursting into countless flower petals. The petals filled the clearing that they were in and Zabuza groaned at having to do things the hard way.

Making a hand sign himself, Zabuza used the signature Justu of his personal fighting style. The chakra induced mist filled the clearing as well and Zabuza was confident that he felt the slight chakra pulse that came with breaking Genjustu by using the chakra coated mist. Closing his eyes, Zabuza allowed the chakra in the mist to pin point where Kurenai was.

Appearing behind her, Zabuza swung his sword and he opened his eyes as his sword swung through nothing. Kurenai looked at him as she body was a misty haze that lacked a middle section due to the sword swipe. She smiled before she burst into more flower petals, that again fluttered around the clearing.

Zabuza grit his teeth beneath his mask as he looked at the disappearing flowers. Suddenly, all of the Genjustu disappeared as he gasped in pain as a large slash was felt across his back, blood immediately dripping down his bare back. Zabuza snarled, as he turned and swung his sword in a blur only to find that his sword again hit nothing but air. The Kurenai behind him holding the Kunai burst into the same flower petals as before.

Zabuza growled in frustration as he whirled around looking for Kurenai. He felt her in a tree above him, so he jumped into the tree already swinging his massive sword. His anger only grew when he managed to hit nothing but air again. To make matters worse, the tree that he was in came alive and started to wrap it's branches around him, holding him in place. A branch wrapped itself around his neck and started to choke him.

He struggled to break free of the thick branches that bound him, only for a burning pain to stretch across his chest. Zabuza gasped as he was suddenly on the ground with no trees around him. Instead there was another kunai caused cut across his chest, causing blood to run down his bare chest. He touched the wound and found that his hands were soaked with blood from the wound on his chest.

He finally managed to pull his eyes from his blood soaked hands to find himself surrounded by a large crowd of children. But the children were not normal, they were all covered in blood or leaking blood from various parts of their bodies. Their clothes were torn and their skin pale, as if they had been awoken from death to bother him.

"Zabuza why?" asked one kid who had a bleeding stomach wound.

"Y you w w weren't even in t this cl class" muttered another kid, this one bleeding from a gash on his head

One by one, the 33 kids all either asked Zabuza various forms of "Why?" or made statements that he didn't belong there as he "wasn't in this class". To Zabuza, he wasn't really bother by blood or dying children, as he had slathered a bunch kids his own age to become a ninja. It suddenly clicked in his head, where he had seen these kids before and why they looked so familiar. These were all of the kids in that class that he butchered to become a ninja.

Zabuza snarled as the kids formed a tight ring around him. He flared his chakra and much to his surprise, the Genjustu on him didn't break and dispel the kids. No, the amount of kids doubles as there was now two of every kid that he killed on that day. He looked around and noticed that he couldn't see anything but the children as the background of the clearing had faded into a heavy mist.

The Genjustu faded as a Kunai found itself into his left shoulder. He blinked and Kurenai and the Konoha ninja were back in the clearing and the clearing was the clearing again.

"You stupid bitch, you really should have just finished me off. The longer that you play this game, the closer this blade of mine gets to taking your life" growled Zabuza as he pulled the kunai out of his shoulder.

"Oh, is that a threat? You haven't even managed to get close to me. How can you threaten me when you haven't moved from the original spot that you jumped down and landed on." Taunted Kurenai trying to enrage Zabuza even further. It worked as the masked man let loose an angry roar as he prepared his sword for an attack on Kurenai.

With blood oozing out of the wound on his back, chest, and now shoulder, Zabuza launched himself forward at Kurenai with yet again another sword slash. The same action was met with the same result, another hazy Kurenai smiling as the sword pasted through her harmlessly. Zabuza grit his teeth at the seeing the Kurenai disappear into mist.

"You coward, you think that I don't know what you're doing, but I do. I can see through your plan now" called out Zabuza as Kurenai appeared in front of him. Zabuza released a burst of chakra from his body and the Kurenai in front of him turned into two Kurenai. Growling, Zabuza released another pulse of chakra and the two copies of Kurenai turned into 4 after he blinked.

"You think that you are so smart, well I know how to escape this Genjustu" snarled Zabuza as he pulled out a kunai and cut himself lightly the arm. The Kurenai in front of him didn't disappear, but again multiplied by two.

"What is going on here, I should be free of the Genjustu" said Zabuza

Kurenai jumped down from a tree off to the side and shook her head at the missing ninja.

"I released you from the Genjustu after stabbing you in the shoulder, these are just normal academy level clones. It was also sad to see that you didn't think of the fact that I could layer my illusions over each other. I was weaving triple layered Genjustu when I was 15, I've only gotten a lot better since then." Kurenai said as she dispelled her clones.

"You think that you can make a fool out of me? Zabuz – Aagh" said Zabuza as he started a rant, but it was cut short by two needles stabbing him in the neck.

A Kiri hunter ninja dropped down from a tree and said, "Thank you for wearing Zabuza Momochi out, it made my job all the easier to take him out once he was damaged." Said the female sounding hunter ninja.

"No problem, it was a good test of my skills to go head to head with an A ranked Shinobi like him." Said Kurenai

"Well, I should be on my way, I need to properly dispose of him. I would prefer to do that in privacy. I will take the body and be on my way" said the Hunter Ninja

"What about my reward? I basically defeated him on my own, I should be able to collect the bounty for him" said Kurenai

"Yes, you are correct, I believe that I have the scroll in here somewhere" muttered the Hunter Ninja as they started to look through their pockets before pulling out a scroll that bore the mark of the Hidden Mist Village.

"Fill that out and have it sent to the Mist, they should process a reward for you" said the Hunter Ninja after giving the scroll to Kurenai. The hunter ninja gave no other words as they walked over to Zabuza, pulled the body onto their shoulder and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Kakashi looked at Kurenai and said "That was handled by you in a pretty impressive manner"

"Well, I am a Jonin for a reason" retorted Kurenai while she had a small smile on her face.

"I thought that it showed an ability far greater than anyone thought that Genjustu could be used for in the middle of battle" said Naruto

Everyone was impressed with how Kurenai used a series of illusions to manipulate Zabuza into basically defeating himself with his temper. Well everyone but Sasuke that was.

' _I can't believe that she has the same level of mastery over illusions that_ _ **HE**_ _has. I need to learn how to combat that level of skill and soon'_ thought the Uchiha.

Kurenai, unaware of Sasuke's thoughts, looked at Tazuna and said "Let's get you home"

 **A/N: I have returned, after a longer absence than I would have liked. I had about 60 percent of this written for a couple of weeks now, with me putting out chapters for my Naruto/Kim Possible story as well as my Naruto/Marvel story, I felt that I had to show this story some love as well.**

 **Honestly, this chapter was kind of a Kurenai chapter. I feel that she got no shine in the normal canon storyline, as Itachi was basically her only opponent and he has plot devices for eyes, so you already knew that he was going to win. Do you feel like I did Kurenai and her Genjustu powers justice? If not, how could I have made them better in the flow of the battle that took place.**

 **Next, the reason they don't want to kill Zabuza is information. They would like to capture the man and get as much info as they can from him. It would be useful to know where Gato is hiding, what type of forces that Gato has on call. Stuff of that nature, but of course a plot has to plot.**

 **Sakura is hard to write a bit if I am being honest. She's been training for a month, which means that she has gotten better. The question is how much better? I went to the gym 5 days a week for a month, I lost 8 pounds. Progress is slow, and she was trash to begin with, so she's not trash now, she's recycle waste. Better than bad but worse than okay. I don't feel that it is a reach for her not to realize that she is in a Genjustu unless alerted to the fact at this point. Oh and I would never forget about my man Shino, but a man has to allow the plot to plot out here.**

 **Now like a Marvel Movie, here is some mid-credit/Author Note scenes**

 **Alternate Scene: Zabuza Battle vs Naruto**

When they looked closely, they saw that he was wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. He wore his forehead protector sideways on his head, and prior to his defection from Village hidden in the Mist.

Also, he was seen shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his sword that was currently stuck in the tree, wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of the Hidden Mist Village and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

Three members of our group immediately knew who he was, while the other 6 were clueless to the man before them was.

"I see, the infamous Kakashi Hatake, the Copycat Ninja. And who is he joined by? None other the Kurenai Yuhi, THE Genjustu Mistress of Konoha. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Village Hidden in the Mist." Countered Kakashi making Sakura gasp as her knowledge of foreign ninja kicked in.

"You flatter me with knowledge of my name and who I am, Kakashi. It also surprises me that a tree hugging village like yours knows of a real Shinobi such as myself." Said Zabuza as he jumped from the tree pulling his large blade with him.

"Now, why don't you hand over the bridge builder and I will allow you to leave with your lives." Said Zabuza as he pointed his legendary sword Kubikiribōchōat them.

"I'm afraid that we can't do that" said Kurenai confidently

"Listen lady, I am giving you the chance to not throw away the lives of everyone in your group. This is my final warning, leave now or suffer the same fate as the bridge builder." Warned Zabuza

Kurenai simply smiled and made a single hand sign before bursting into countless flower petals. The petals filled the clearing that they were in and Zabuza groaned at having to do things the hard way.

Making a hand sign himself, Zabuza used the signature Justu of his personal fighting style. The chakra induced mist filled the clearing as well and Zabuza was confident that he felt the slight chakra pulse that came with breaking Genjustu by using the chakra coated mist. Closing his eyes, Zabuza allowed the chakra in the mist to pin point where Kurenai was.

Appearing behind her, Zabuza swung his sword and he opened his eyes as his sword swung through nothing. Kurenai looked at him as she body was a misty haze that lacked a middle section due to the sword swipe. She smiled before she burst into more flower petals, that again fluttered around the clearing.

The next thing Zabuza knew was that his neck went crunch and everything went dark. Naruto stood behind Zabuza after having snapped his neck and looked at Kurenai and Kakashi.

"What? I didn't want a super drawn out battle" said Naruto

"Naruto, you can't just kill people, you have to give them a chance to defend themselves" said Kakashi a look of disgust in his eye

"Yeah Naruto, you can't just attack people" seconded Kurenai

"He was trying to kill us" said Naruto

"Yeah, trying Naruto" retorted Kakashi, "He can't do anything now"

"Let's go guys" said Kurenai as she lead the group towards Tazuna's house with a little guidance from the man himself.

"Y'all are some bitches man" mumbled Naruto as he sealed away the legendary sword of Zabuza's before he followed the rest of the group

None of them heard the sobbing of a fake hunter ninja in the trees

 **Next chapter, we get some more useless training that will superficially over power the Genin for some reason and more talking between Naruto and Kurenai. The Naruto and Kurenai romantic interactions are going to start around the Chunin Exams Arc, but don't hold me to an exact chapter just yet.**

 **Speaking of interactions, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply, and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between, sometimes.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Unless you're going to be a dick about it, then you can literally kick rocks.**


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto Age: 15 years and 2 months old

" _I have nothing left to give" said Naruto from the ground as the Third Hokage looked over him. Naruto was clearly on the wrong end of a brutal beatdown, his right eye swollen shut and his clothes ragged and filled with holes._

" _They say that the next generation is supposed to surpass the one that came before them, but you're making the author of that quote, a liar. Get up" said Hiruzen, who was in almost perfect condition minus his right arm guard that had a single scratch on it._

" _No, I think that he is done for the day, old man" said a third voice, this one much more serious than Naruto or the Third Hokage had been._

" _He still hasn't used it in combat therefore, he is to continue until he manages it, or I grow tired of using him as a punching bag" replied the Hokage without looking at the source of the third voice_

" _I said that he is done, if you want to pick a fight with someone, I have more than enough free time" said the third man_

" _No, it's alright. He wants to see it in action, he will see it in action" said Naruto as the cuts on his body hissed as they sealed themselves and his eye started to return to normal._

" _Naruto, this isn't healthy. You can't carry on with this type of training" the third voice said, trying to prevent the training session from going any further._

" _You used to like it when I was a slave driver, said you need to catch up to your teammates" said Hiruzen_

" _Yeah, but the difference was that we did that for an hour a week, not 10 hours a day, every day."_

" _Listen, either get on board Jiraiya or leave, I don't have time to be a teacher to anyone other than Naruto here" said Hiruzen before he turned his back on his student and told Naruto to get up._

"You know that Zabuza isn't dead right?" asked Kurenai to Kakashi and Naruto. I had been a day since they arrived at Tazuna's house and after some resting and being able to rethink the fight, Kurenai realized that there was no way that Zabuza was dead.

"Eh, I give it a 50-50 chance, the hunter ninja isn't exactly the bravest or boldest group of ninja. They generally don't fight their targets if someone else is willing to do the work for them." Replied Kakashi, using his time in the ANBU to recount his interactions with the Hunter Ninja corps.

"they only used senbon and they hit the neck. That means that Zabuza was put in a near death state, but nowhere near actual death. The appearance of the Hunter Nin was also a bit to convenient, if you ask me" added in Naruto

"So, there is a 50-50 chance that Zabuza used his partner to bail him out of situation that wasn't favorable for him. We need to plan accordingly, I say we break up roles. Naruto can go with Tazuna to the bridge and use his shadow clones to help speed up the bridge production. Me and Kurenai will alternate between watching over the family and training the other Genin in a single technique each. If we can give them a bit of fire power, they will have a better chance of defending themselves against any group of bandits that Gato may have hired." Planned Kakashi

"Hmm, it is a sound plan, but I would say that we have about 2 weeks for Zabuza to recover enough that he wouldn't just get outright defeated by Kakashi or myself. I say on every 4th day, we let Naruto watch over the family and recover from using so many shadow clones on the bridge."

Naruto shrugged to say whatever and Kakashi agreed on the plan, and they all quickly started to set it in motion.

8 days Later:

Naruto was a little bit bored, just sitting around waiting for someone dumb enough to dare make a move against the house that he was protecting. The rude grandson of the client was crying in his room upstairs while the daughter of the client was attending to some of her own needs in the bathroom.

The result of this was that Naruto could send 4 clones up to the roof to keep lookout while he was actually in the house resting. He decided that the best way to rest would to read about advanced Wind Chakra manipulation. His resting and reading was cut off by Hinata entering the house and sitting across from him at the table.

"You're inside earlier than the others, any reason for that?" asked Naruto

"I al already com completed the ex exercise t t today" responded the nervous Hyuuga

Naruto returned to his book, only to feel the stare of Hinata on him, "You shouldn't stare, it can be seen as rude or taken the wrong way like you're interested in me"

Hinata blushed a shade of red that Naruto had never seen and she pushed her index fingers together.

"I I I was j jus wondering if if y you were the s same N na Naruto that my c cousin n Neji s spoke a about" said Hinata

Naruto's eyes widen as he took at Hinata and he said, "I should have realized what I did to your cousin would be spread all throughout your clan."

"W what did y you do?"

"I guess if nobody told you"

Hinata just shook her head no.

"Well it is pretty interesting, it was about a year ago."

1 year ago: Naruto age 16

 _Naruto entered a clearing of Training Ground 9. In the middle of the clearing, there was a full Genin team. Their Jonin was a strange man, a tan man in his mid to late 20's. He wore a jumpsuit that was the ugliest shade of green, Naruto had ever seen. The green jumpsuit was paired with a Jonin vest, a red belt that held his headband as a buckle, and a pair of cool orange leg warmers._

 _The man himself had a bowl cut, and eyebrows so think that Naruto thought they were caterpillars at first. His team contained a boy who looked and dressed the same, minus the Jonin vest. A girl dressed a traditional pink combat shirt and standard pants and sandals, she also wore her hair in a set of buns. The last was male with long hair, white eyes, and what was clearly an attitude problem._

" _Are you guys, Team 9?" asked Naruto as he approached the group of freaks._

" _Yes we are, how could you tell? Is it because of how youthful that we are?" asked the Jonin as Naruto started to think that maybe he was better off without a promotion if this is what it led to._

" _Err … no. You put in a mission request for an older Genin to spar with your team remember. You said to be here at 8:15 in the morning, it's 8:10 now." Explained Naruto_

" _Ah yes, my name is Maito Gai and this is my team." Said Guy loudly_

" _My name is Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto said introducing himself_

" _My name is Rock Lee, nice to meet you" said the Guy clone_

" _Nice to meet you, the name is Tenten" said the lone female in the clearing_

" _Neji Hyuuga" said the pale eyed asshole_

 _Gai cleared his throat after the frosty words by his student and said "My team has been together for about 6 months now, they were part of the Spring Graduation. With the Fall class about to graduate, I figured that now was the time to show them a bit more about the Shinobi lifestyle"_

 _Gai pointed at Naruto before continuing "That is where you come in Naruto. Anything that I tell them would be not be received the same way that something you say might be with you being closer to their age than I am."_

" _Ok, I see where this is going" Naruto said, understanding that Guy probably wanted him to give the trio of Genin a dose of reality._

" _You guys can ask any question that you want" Naruto said, inviting the younger Genin to ask him questions while Naruto got a nod from Gai_

" _How long have you been a ninja for?" asked Rock Lee_

" _This fall will make 4 years?"_

" _What is the most difficult mission that you've done" asked Tenten_

" _I was once assigned to accompany a group of Chunin about 2 years back, we ran into a missing Nin from The Hidden Stone Village. He was an A ranked Jonin who had a serious case of PTSD and wanted revenge on our squad for things that happened in the last war. The 4 of us managed to defeat him, but it was the hardest thing that had happened to me so far."_

" _What rank do you hold?" asked Neji as he looked Naruto up and down_

" _I still hold the rank of Genin" said Naruto with a light blush on his face_

 _Upon hearing Naruto's answer, Neji scoffed and began to tune Naruto out. Naruto answered a few more questions from Tenten and Rock Lee before Neji spoke up again._

" _So, how does it feel to be a failure as a shinobi?" asked Neji. The clearing got insanely quiet and Naruto blinked in shock._

" _Excuse me, I think that I misheard you" said Naruto, a look of bewilderment on his face_

" _I asked you how it feels to be a failure? To know that your destiny is to be nothing more than fodder to the people who destiny has blessed to be the best" said Neji_

 _Gai coughed and said, "This line of questioning is really what I had in mind." He was trying to stop a possible conflict from happening, but it was already too late._

" _No, Gai. Let him ask whatever he likes" said Naruto before he looked at Neji and replied, "It feels the same as you will feel like when my foot is buried several feet up your ass"_

 _Neji growled and said, "I would watch the way that you talk to me. I am a Hyuug elite and you will treat me as such"_

" _Oh, I'm sorry did you say that you are a Elite asshole?" the taunt got the desired reaction that Naruto wanted._

" _You are nothing but common trash, you shouldn't challenge your betters" spat Neji_

" _If you are so much better than me, fight me" said Naruto_

" _If it will remind you of your proper place, gladly" said Neji._

 _Gai upon realizing that he had lost control of the situation grabbed Lee and Tenten and jumped backwards._

" _Gai-Sensei, do you think that Neji will win" asked Lee as he looked at Naruto looking down at Neji_

" _Neji is extremely talented for someone who has been a shinobi as long as he has, but Naruto is on a different level. Naruto could easily be a Chunin from the rumors that I have heard, but he never had a team to take the exams with. The only reason Naruto is a Genin is because the system has not been in his favor" replied Gai_

 _Naruto slid into a basic stance and Neji just rushed forward. Neji aimed his open palm strike at Naruto's chest, clearly hoping to end it in one shot. However before the strike could hit Naruto's chest, Naruto lashed out and grabbed Neji's wrist and squeezed._

 _Neji gasped in pain as Naruto's grip became like tighter to the point that it felt like his bone was going to crack. Instead, Naruto kneed Neji in the stomach and threw the Hyuuga over his shoulder._

" _Oof" cried out Neji as he landed on his back. His pride was more damaged than this body and he jumped to his feet and launched himself at Naruto's back. Naruto turned at the last second and allowed Neji to fly by. Neji slid to a stop and he growled at the ease that Naruto was dealing with him at._

" _Byakugan" said Neji as the sides of his face tensed and veins could be seen._

" _You're still trying to continue this fight? You're in over your head kid" said Naruto to the raging Hyuuga._

 _Neji slid into a fighting stance and launched himself at Naruto. Neji had stopped messing around and was now using the Gentle Fist technique that the Hyuuga Clan was famous for. Naruto smirked as he leaned to the right of the first jab._

 _Naruto continued to just avoid the jabs of Neji's Gentle Fist. This only caused Neji to get madder and madder as time went on._

" _8 trigrams 64 palms" called out Neji as he used one of the Hyuuga's secret Justu. Naruto blocked the first 2 strikes by slapping the jabs away from the inside. The next 4 palms were met with more deflections away from Naruto's body. The following sets of 8 and 16 were just dodged completely. The rapid 32 hit nothing but air as Naruto jumped over Neji landing behind him. A simple chop to the back of the neck stopped Neji from trying to get to 64 palms._

" _You have all that anger and you use it to fuel your attacks, but it clouds your mind. Shinobi rule number 3; No shinobi is to wear their hearts on their sleeve" said Naruto from above Neji._

" _I don't understand, fate had decided that you were subpar. How can you defy where you are placed in life?" asked Neji from the ground_

" _Because fate has said that I have failed yet, just that my time hasn't arrived yet" said Naruto._

Hinata looked at Naruto with a bit of awe. Just then the door opened and in walked Kakashi with the rest of the Genin.

"You can sleep now Naruto, I got it from here" said Kakashi as Naruto nodded and went upstairs to sleep.

Later that evening when Kurenai arrived back at the house, her and Kakashi sat on the roof.

"So, tell me about Naruto" Kurenai said out of the blue to Kakashi.

"Naruto, huh?" said Kakashi, his lone visible eye showing a hint of amusement in it. "Naruto is different than anyone that I have ever met."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen someone who wasn't given any sign of better things to come and still be so ready to continue on striving forward. Naruto never knew that I was failing Genin teams until I could convince the Hokage to put him on my squad."

"That wasn't the right thing to do" commented Kurenai

"Eh, I've done worse" said Kakashi thinking about his time in the Hidden Mist Village.

On the day that everyone projected that Zabuza was be healthy:

They arrived on the bridge to find it completely covered in mist and nobody in sight. And by they, I mean, Kakashi, Naruto, Kurenai, Shino and Sakura. With there being 6 of them, it was decided that Sasuke, Kiba and Hinata would guard the house to prevent an army of bandits that Gato had from making a move on the house.

"This mist is filled with Chakra, that means that you were right Kurenai, Zabuza is alive." Said Kakashi as he raised his headband to reveal his implanted Sharingan.

"Oh, I am more than alive, I brought some friends." Called out Zabuza before he allowed the mist to fade slightly to reveal that it was more than just the fake Hunter nin that was with him. There was 2 other figures there, both of them wearing long black cloaks that were covered in red clouds and they wore bamboo hats on their heads.

The taller one of them tossed away his hat to reveal blue fish like face and a crossed out Hidden Mist Village headband. The shorter of the duo simply raised his hat to reveal a pair of Sharingan eyes.

"Allow me to introduce, Itachi Uchiha and my fellow ex seven swordsmen member Kisame." Said Zabuza

 **A/N: Kind of a short chapter but that's all I got for you today.**

Deleted Scene: Kakashi and Kurenai on the rooftop:

"So, tell me about Naruto" Kurenai said out of the blue to Kakashi.

"Naruto, huh?" said Kakashi, his lone visible eye showing a hint of amusement in it. "Naruto is different than anyone that I have ever met."

"Really, how is that?" asked Kurenai as she looked up at the night sky.

"You know my sensei and how he ended up, well I didn't take it all that well. My sensei was gone, the last person who really mattered to me. Obito had fallen in battle over a year before that and Rin by my own hands not too much longer after Obito. Minato was basically all that I had left, and then poof he was gone.

It was really hard to deal with until a couple of weeks after losing him, I get a summons to the Hokage's office. I arrive there and our Lord Hokage was holding a small bundle in his hands. He's rocking back and forth with what I realize is a baby. It had tuffs of blond hair and wouldn't stop crying, which is why I was called in. Lord Hokage was too tired to continue caring from the baby and called upon an ANBU who he knew wouldn't try and harm the baby because of what it was." Said Kakashi

"The baby was Naruto?"

"Yes, the baby was Naruto, I can remember holding him in my arms for the first time and thinking that I had never held something so light, but so important. I had been waiting for Naruto for almost 10 months now, his parents being the only family that I had at the time. I remember putting my ear to Kushina's belly and trying to feel for Naruto, he technically kicked me in the face, but it was one of the most exciting things that I had ever felt. So, here I was holding this tiny Naruto and I have no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

I look down at Naruto who opened his eyes for the first time since I was holding him and I come face to face with eyes that were almost an exact copy of my sensei's. It was right there when I turned my life around, I had no time to be depressed, no time to mope around sad. I was barely 15 at the time, but I knew right then and there at some point I would be Naruto's sensei. I knew that I would make him into one of the best that had ever lived, because it was what his father would have done for me." Said Kakashi


	8. Chapter 8

" _You could do a little better" called out the voice, causing Naruto to look up at the older man._

" _You seem to have an opinion for something that doesn't concern you, old man" spat Naruto as he closed his eyes and tried to focus once more._

" _It would suit you well to show me some respect Nine Tails" said the old man_

 _Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the old man and said "Listen, if you aren't the Hokage, you need to get off my property."_

 _A swipe of a cane came towards Naruto but the blond Genin caught the wooden staff and narrowed his eyes._

" _Who are you?" questioned Naruto as he looked at the old man with bandages around a bunch of his body_

" _My name is Danzo, boy. And you are now my pet" said Danzo as the bandages around his eye dropped to reveal a spinning Sharingan that Naruto made the mistake of making eye contact with_

Now back to the Plot

They arrived on the bridge to find it completely covered in mist and nobody in sight. And by "they", I mean, Kakashi, Naruto, Kurenai, Shino and Sakura. With there being 6 of them, it was decided that Sasuke, Kiba and Hinata would guard the house to prevent an army of bandits that Gato had from making a move on the house.

"This mist is filled with Chakra, that means that you were right Kurenai, Zabuza is alive." Said Kakashi as he raised his headband to reveal his implanted Sharingan.

"Oh, I am more than alive, I brought some friends." Called out Zabuza before he allowed the mist to fade slightly to reveal that it was more than just the fake Hunter nin that was with him. There were 2 other figures there, both wearing long black cloaks that were covered in red clouds and they wore bamboo hats on their heads.

The taller one of them tossed away his hat to reveal blue fish like face and a crossed out Hidden Mist Village headband. The shorter of the duo simply raised his hat to reveal a pair of Sharingan eyes.

"Allow me to introduce, Itachi Uchiha and my fellow ex seven swordsmen member Kisame." Said Zabuza

Kurenai looked at Kakashi and muttered mockingly "We can do this mission, we don't need help, we have a Naruto"

Kakashi being the true elite that he was ignored the jab visibly but was adding Kurenai to his shit list internally.

Kakashi glanced at Kurenai and then back at Itachi, his Sharingan spinning as he tore apart the Genus that Itachi tried to put on the group.

"Kurenai, you take Zabuza again and take him out asap. Kisame is basically immune to Genjutsu because of that sword of his, if you can defeat Zabuza, you can help Naruto immediately. Naruto you must deal with Kisame, he's basically a chakra tank like you are. I am the only one here who even stands a shot at surviving a fight against Itachi."

Kisame heard Kakashi and snorted in amusement. "You hear that Itachi? Kakashi is the only one here who could survive a fight against you. And the scarecrow is a little too knowledgeable, he even knew about my sword."

"Kakashi isn't someone that you want to fight Kisame, he was my ANBU captain. I never won a single fight against him, I would think that I had him on the edge of defeat only for him to do something that made me think 'I've never seen that before'. Kakashi is an S ranked ninja for a reason" replied Itachi as he looked at the silver haired Leaf Village Shinobi.

The fake hunter ninja blurred towards the bridge builder and Shino met them half way there.

"The entire point of this mission is to protect the bridge builder, it would be very illogical to allow you to harm him" said Shino as he pulled his hands out of his pockets, a swarm of bugs flooding from his long sleeves. Haku grit her teeth under her mask (yup, Haku is a she, roll with it).

Kakashi looked at Naruto and Kurenai who both seemed to get the message. In a blur, Naruto appeared in front of Kisame who smirked as Naruto blasted him in the face with a powerful punch. To almost nobody's surprise, the Kisame that Naruto punched exploded into water as Naruto tore through him. Naruto landed behind Itachi and Zabuza, then started to flash through hand signs. However, Kisame phased into view behind him and with a swipe of his sword, all of the chakra that Naruto had built up was stolen.

Apparently, that was the start of the fight because Zabuza launched himself at Kurenai. This forced her further down the bridge, away from her fellow Leaf Shinobi. This left Kakashi and Itachi standing where they started, both of them unmoving.

"So, do you want to fight?" asked Kakashi, his Sharingan honed onto the form of Itachi.

Itachi continued his vast range of nonexistent emotion and kept a blank look on his face, before he said "I'm not the same 13 year old kid that I was before, Kakashi."

Kakashi snorted and answered with "Of course not, you're not even there. I knew you were behind me before you thought to even make the move"

Both the Itachi and Kakashi that weren't moving faded as Kakashi broke through the bridge with a slight gash on the back of his Jonin vest but had received no damage. Kakashi pulled out a Kunai of his own and flashed toward Itachi, Itachi moved to par the kunai, but the attacking Kakashi disappeared right before contact and it was only his instincts that allowed Itachi to avoid the hands that had almost grabbed his ankles.

"To think that you caught me in a Genjutsu, you've come so far with that eye of yours. However, it still isn't a match for what a real Uchiha can do with both eyes" said Itachi as his chakra flared and Kakashi got nervous.

With Naruto and Kisame:

The fight wasn't really going one way or the other. Naruto was unable to use Chakra because of Kisame's sword. But despite that handicap, Naruto was just purely faster than Kisame, something that irked the blue fishman, a great deal. He was one of the most powerful Shinobi in the world, but this kid was still keeping up with him and even outpacing him.

"Kid, I am considered a monster in this world, but even I wasn't this fast or strong at 17. What type of freak are you?" asked Kisame

Naruto's eyes narrowed but he said nothing as he made a shadow clone that threw him high up into the air. Kisame looked up to see the bright sun blind him for a moment, but he still had enough common sense not to stand still. He moved out of the way right as a wind chakra enhanced Kunai grazed his left arm, slicing his skin.

"And the kid draws first blood, impressive. But play time is over" said Kisame as he slung his sword back onto his back and flashed through handsigns.

The water around Naruto rose into the air dozens of feet and immediately crashed back down, making Naruto unable to hear or see what Kisame was saying or doing.

' _Where is he? He isn't up or to the left or right. Is he behind me'_ thought Naruto as he ran through the check downs for where Kisame might be. Naruto was pierced by Kisame's sword from behind and below, the sword coming up and out of the water.

"Looks like you will never get to be that great Shinobi kid." Taunted Kisame as he lifted Naruto in the air with his sword running through him. Only for Naruto to fade as his sword at through the construction of chakra that gave Kisame the illusion of Naruto.

The handle of his sword sent spikes into his hands and released him from the GenJutsu that he was in. Kisame awoke to the real world and came face to face Kurenai who had a smug look on her face.

"What the fuck just happened?" asked Kisame as he tried to regain his baring and come back to reality.

"You've been in a Genjutsu for over 10 minutes" replied Kurenai

Kisame's face twisted into one of rage and he said "That's impossible, my sword Samehada devours any chakra that comes within arm distance"

"Please, I am one of the best GenJutsu users in the world, I can put a sword in GenJutsu with ease. In fact, this world isn't even real" stated Kurenai with a smirk before a breeze picked up and blew her away like she was made of sand.

Kisame snarled as he tried to find her tiny amount of chakra in the massive ocean that he had of his own chakra flowing through his body.

Kurenai knew that her Genjutsu was not in as complete control that she made it out to be in, so she slipped away to help Naruto. If they could take down his opponent first, they would stand a better chance of defeating Kisame together than her by herself.

With the real Naruto and Zabuza

Naruto was not having the same easy time that Kurenai was having with Kisame. Kisame lacked the finer chakra control that was needed to break out of layered GenJutsu, especially when it was cast by one of the best in the world. Which brings us to the current moment in this Naruto vs Zabuza clash.

Zabuza had Kubikiribōchō in a force match with a slightly longer kunai that Naruto had pulled out. Normally the Kubikiribōchō would just cut through any normal kunai, but despite the abnormal length, the kunai was special as it held up to the might of Kubikiribōchō.

A chakra flare from Naruto made Zabuza jump backwards as a clone of Naruto appeared next to where Zabuza had been and slashed at where Zabuza's arm would have been. In a single motion. Zabuza swung his sword onto his back and ran through handsigns.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu" whispered Zabuza as the vast water under the bridge that Naruto and Zabuza were on top of, rose and bent to Zabuza's Jutsu command. The dragon construct made of water broke through the bridge as it roared towards Naruto, who sheathed his kunai and slammed his hands together.

His hands glazed with wind chakra as the dragon raced at him before Naruto released a slashing blade of pure wind chakra. The wind blade slashed straight through the water dragon. Naruto ducked under a swipe of Kubikiribōchō, and landed an elbow into the ribs of Zabuza, causing the masked wearing man to wince in pain.

The most important fight, the Shino fight:

Maybe it was just the fact that Shino wore glasses and she couldn't see his eyes, but Haku had never seen anyone ever look as unimpressed with her ultimate Jutsu, Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors. Shino wasn't worried though, he had several of his bugs on the masked ninja already draining her.

Haku was breathing a but heavier than normal, but she was passing it off as just the large amount of chakra that she was using.

"You should give up. In this dome, your bugs can't help you here" hissed Haku

Shino didn't respond as he continued to plan, placing a couple of his bugs onto the various ice mirrors that made up the dome.

Haku drifted backwards and morphed into one of the mirrors of the dome. Suddenly, all Shino could see was the masked fake hunter nin in every mirror. She was everywhere that he looked, but it played right into his plan. His insect partners were able to eat more and more of her chakra as they felt her slip from mirror to mirror.

Suddenly there was a blitz of ice needles from every direction, piercing Shino from all angles. Shino exploded into a mass of bugs that reformed back into Shino as they let the needles pass through the body of Shino. Shino using his connection with his bugs to locate Haku and flung a kunai in the direction that he was told to.

Haku was moving from one mirror to another when a sharp pain slashed along her ribs and blood began to spill out of her sides. She tried to jump into another mirror, but to her disbelief, they all started to crumble into ice shards.

"You were overconfident, a shinobi is never allowed to let emotions dictate their actions, whether positive or negative" said Shino before a kunai flew through the air and Haku knew no more of the land of the living.

With Kakashi and Itachi

Itachi was hard pressed to find an advantage on Kakashi. Kakashi had speed greater than Itachi ever remembered him having. Kakashi being a real adult and not a teenager like Itachi, allowed him to have his grown man strength as Kakashi was physically stronger than Itachi was at the moment. Kakashi was still every bit as smart as Itachi remembered him as, always just a half step ahead.

"You've grown Itachi, but I can already sense that Kurenai has trapped Kisame and is about to help Naruto defeat Zabuza. Once they finish him off, you wouldn't win a 3 on 1 despite how skilled you are, even you can't hold fight all 3 of us" bluffed Kakashi while he was really closer to collapsing due to chakra use.

"It seems that you have managed to end this fight in a draw. Remember Kakashi, every leaf has 2 sides and the roots are what hold the tree up" said Itachi before he stopped holding back and knocked out Kakashi in a burst of blurring speed and GenJutsu combination.

With Kurenai and Naruto

Naruto was able to Zabuza on his own, but with the arrival of Kurenai, the fight was basically over. Kurenai didn't announce her presence as she was hidden under a Genjutsu. So instead, she simply watched Zabuza break a par with Naruto before she slit his throat, effectively winning the fight with a simple pulling of her arm.

"Way to go Kurenai, I couldn't really find a way to overpower him. Despite his lack of speed, his sword and brute strength was more than powerful enough to stop most of attacks and Jutsu." Naruto said to his raven haired female hero.

"I did what any other comrade would do Naruto, but now that we've taken care of Zabuza, what should we do with the body?" asked Kurenai unsure of how to continue, as she usually only dealt with her own village's missing nin and not one from other villages.

"Well, you killed him so that means if we take his body, you can claim his bounty from the Hidden Mist Village, but I think that I'm going to take the sword." Said Naruto with an interested gleam in his eyes as he looked at the legendary sword.

"Sounds good, seal them up and let's get back to Kakashi" said Kurenai before she left Naruto to seal up Zabuza and the sword

At Tazuna's house: 30 Mins ago when the fights first started.

Sasuke and Kiba were in less than ideal moods, because they were left behind on guard duty and partly because the other was a disrespectful prick to the other.

"This sucks, we should be out there at the bridge" complained Kiba for the thousandth time since Kakashi and the others had left.

"Someone had to remain here to protect the family of Tazuna, Kiba" said Hinata, her irritation growing at the bitching and moaning of Kiba and Sasuke

"Hn, it doesn't change the fact that as an Uchiha, I should be out there not stuck in here" said Sasuke

"Please, who cares about all 2 Uchiha left in the world, in case you haven't noticed Sasuke, you are a far cry from the legend the fangirls in the academy made you out to be. Hell, you aren't even as strong as Naruto was at this age." Retorted Kiba, his boredom fueling his anger.

Sasuke's anger skyrocketed as he heard the words that left Kiba's mouth. As Sasuke turned to look at Kiba, Kiba could have sworn that he saw Sasuke's eyes flash crimson for the briefiest of moments. However, any possible conflict was stopped by Hinata's trap being triggered.

The trap wasn't to stop or kill anyone who approached the house, it was to alert Hinata and the others to the fact that someone was coming towards the house. "Someone is coming towards the house, be on your guard" said Hinata without a hint of her stutter or hesitation.

Kiba ran upstairs to grab Akamaru, with Sasuke slipped a kunai into his hand as Hinata activated her Byakugan. Her vision changed as walls became meaningless and she narrowed her view onto the incoming chakra signatures. They were low, lower than Sakura's were when the pink haired girl had exhausted herself the other day training. There was almost no way that these were any of her partners for this mission. It wasn't until she noticed that the size of the group was in the mid 20's that she put it all together.

"Sasuke, we got 24 bandits coming at the house, it seems that Gato planned to get at Tazuna's family to get us to stop." Said Hinata before she heard the breaking of glass upstairs followed by Kiba roaring outside.

Sasuke raced outside with Hinata following him closely, with Tazuna's family inside, they would be safe as long as they didn't allow someone inside. Kiba was armed with a kunai, parring the slashes of multiple swords coming from multiple bandits.

"Sasuke, you need to do something to force them back, Kiba is using chakra to enhance his speed to deal with the slashes but he doesn't have the control to keep this up at this point."

Sasuke didn't say anything in response, he just started flipping through handsigns and when he ended on a Tiger sign, Hinata saw the chakra in his lungs suddenly grow violent, as if it was fighting against his control.

Sasuke's cheeks bulged and Hinata said "Kiba jump"

Kiba didn't need to be told twice and he used the chakra already in his legs to give himself something of a super jump, it was just in time as Sasuke unleashed his Jutsu.

 _ **Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu**_

To call that fireball great, would be a bit of an understatement, as it was easily 10 feet in diameter, it raced towards the bandits and melted the sizable group of 17 that had surrounded Kiba.

' _To think that I dared to taunt Sasuke, that fireball easily would have burned me to the point of no return. The bandits are basically soup at this point."_ Thought Kiba as he landed next to Sasuke who was breathing a little heavy, but that was to be expected when you literally just breathed fire.

"Nice hit" complimented Kiba before called Akamaru down from the house with his bag of chakra pills. Flipping one to Sasuke, Kiba then fed one to Akamaru.

 **Beast Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone Jutsu**

Suddenly Akamaru was a clone of Kiba and Sasuke watched as the two of them raced forward and quite literally tore through a bandit. Hinata gasped and said "Kiba watch out"

A blast of lightning flashed forward and hit Kiba head on. Kiba screamed in pain as he was fried by the jutsu until Sasuke through a kunai towards the man casting it. Akamaru gripped Kiba with his teeth and started slowly dragging Kiba, but the same man turned his sights on the dog back in its dog form and Sasuke's mind saw flashes.

" _Don't you dare call Akamaru 'Just a dog' he's every bit a part of my family as any normal human brother and sister" yelled Kiba after Sasuke asked Iruka if Kiba was allowed to bring a dog into the fight._

" _You see brother, you're weak. You aren't worth killing like everyone else was" whispered Itachi right before he finished cutting down their parents._

Sasuke would never admit it, but family was an ideal that he cared about more than he ever would admit. Kiba said that Akamaru was family, well Sasuke would be damned if he would let someone's family get killed in front of them if he could help it. So, without even thinking, Sasuke moved and using a kunai and some ninja wire as a lightning rod, deflected the lightning jutsu. Standing in front of Kiba and Akamaru, Sasuke stood with his chest puffed out and said "I'm sorry, my friend can't play right now, allow me to provide you the service that you need"

The man, a pale emotionless looking man with a Hidden Rock Village slashed headband tilted his head. He parted his eye level long bangs out of his eye path and said "You want to fight me for him? Child, you can do nothing before me, turn around and leave with the girl and I will allow you to die on a different day"

Sasuke scoffed and said "I know what I can do for you, kick your ass" before he launched himself at the missing ninja. The blank faced man with the black hair blocked Sasuke's kick with his forearm, before spinning slamming his elbow into the unprotected stomach of Sasuke.

The second that Sasuke needed to regain his breathe was all the missing nin needed to slug him in the face, sending him skidding backwards. Sasuke used the backwards sliding to flip over and relaunch himself at the man who dodged his attacks. Sasuke noticed in the background that Hinata had gotten Kiba and Akamaru back to the house before beginning to destroy the bandits with her Gentle Fist.

Sasuke ducked under a swipe, only to run into a hard knee to face. This time there was a crunch that went along with the blow as it broke Sasuke's nose. Sasuke stunned by the blow couldn't stop the pale man from hitting him in the chest twice before getting blasted in the face again.

Despite all the punishment that Sasuke was going through, he didn't feel beat up or overly tired. Kakashi's training was to thank for that as consistently testing your limits allowed you to get the shit kicked out of you and still get back up (also known as Naruto syndrome).

"You know kid, it's admirable that you would be willing to die for your comrade, but a word of advice. Don't pick a fight if you aren't strong enough to back up the words" said the pale missing nin as he flared his chakra and disappeared from Sasuke's vision. The kick in the back came from nowhere and Sasuke fell forward before he felt something slapped onto his back.

A second later, whatever was on his back unleased a bunch of electric volts that shocked the Uchiha Genin. A hand came and grasped Sasuke by the back of the neck and lifted him into the air.

"You know, I would have thought that the Uchiha would have been a little bit tougher, but I guess that Itachi managed to kill all of the ones with skill. You aren't worth killing, if killing you wasn't good enough for him, it isn't good enough for me" said the missing nin before he threw Sasuke off to the side.

Sasuke crashed back first into a tree and watched as the man pull out a kunai and point it at Sasuke.

"Hate to make myself into a liar, but I think I will kill you kid. I would ask you not to tell anyone that I lied, but since you'll be dead it wouldn't matter." Said the man before he smirked continued on to say "Say hi to your parents from me kid"

And with that, Sasuke watched the man throw the kunai that would end his life, unable to move due to the shocking that the seal on his back gave him. The kunai looked so different when it was being thrown at your face instead of the other way around. Sasuke didn't want to give his killer the pleasure of flinching but couldn't help but blink as the kunai came closer.

The kunai hit, and the yelp caused Sasuke to look in disbelief. The kunai didn't come and hit him, instead it seems that Hinata had thrown herself in the way and had taken the kunai to the stomach.

"W why?" asked Sasuke in disbelief

"W w why n not?" asked Hinata as she choked up a bit as she coughed up some blood.

Sasuke turned and looked at his would be murderer and suddenly everything was clearer than ever. Sasuke climbed to his feet and said "I'm going to kill you"

The words came out in a manner that was chilling to hear. There was no anger, no excitement, no sadness in the words. They were said in a calm and cool manner that made it almost impossible to not believe that they would come true very shortly.

The missing nin tried to throw himself at Sasuke, launching attack after attack at the Uchiha. However, this time the results were different, Sasuke wasn't on the defensive. He was returning his own blows at the missing nin was slower this time around. His moves looked telegraphed a bit, like he was trying to let Sasuke win. Sasuke saw the man move to get a kunai from his thigh and managed to stomp on the man's wrist breaking it. The man hissed in pain but Sasuke didn't care as he followed it up with an elbow strike to the nose and was happy to hear the crunch of the other man's nose breaking.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai and with speed that he didn't know that he had, raced around to behind than man and slammed the kunai into the base of the man's spine paralyzing him for the rest of his soon to be ending life.

Sasuke pulled the kunai out as the man collapsed to the ground and Sasuke smirked.

"Any last words, I don't even know your name" said Sasuke

"Kinoto" the man said before a kunai shoved to the hilt between his eyes ended his live.

Sasuke stumbled over to Hinata and saw that she was already dressing her own wound and sank to the ground next to her.

"You saved my life" stated Sasuke

"You saved Kiba and Akamaru, I was just returning the favor" replied Hinata

"You know, you sound a lot better when you don't stutter" said Sasuke as he helped her finish patching up her stomach injury.

"You shouldn't say that, I wouldn't want your fan girls coming after me because you complimented me. By the way, you've gotten the upgraded Uchiha eyes, you've activated your Sharingan" said Hinata, the adrenaline pumping through her making her more bold and talkative than ever.

"I figured as much when the fight turned out to be much easier the second time around. Besides, I'm not interested in fan girls or their feelings. I could only ever go after a girl that is an actual ninja." Said Sasuke before he helped Hinata to her feet and started moving back towards the house, ignoring the bodies that were laying around the clearing before the house. Not realizing that the body of the missing nin that Sasuke killed caught flames and burned into ashes.

As they opened the door, Sasuke finished his unspoken words with his thoughts ' _I could only ever go after a girl that is an actual real ninja like you, Hinata'_

Back on the bridge right after Itachi knocks out Kakashi

Sakura was a bit scared, then the man in the cloak with red clouds knocked out her sensei and then crumbled to reveal that it was some random guy. As she walked over to her unconscious sensei and a small man came down the bridge with a group of bandits. They match towards herself, the bridge builder, and Kakashi with no type of positive intent.

What was she to do? Allow them to do what they wanted? No! She had trained to become a real Shinobi and she was very much going to damn well act like one. Grabbing a kunai from her thigh, she channeled chakra through it and when the first of the bandits reached out to grab her, she sliced his hand off.

The man screamed, but she quickly silenced him with a kunai to the neck. Her stomach lurched, but she fought down the vomit that threatened to leave her mouth. She hadn't come this far to simply allow herself to be overrun by mere bandits.

However, she didn't need to do anymore. Kurenai appeared and grabbed her and Tazuna as Naruto grabbed Kakashi. The two older Shinobi moved further down the bridge and set down the people that they grabbed.

"Sakura, you've come so far. You did a great job of protecting to the bridge builder and Kakashi-Sensei while he is like this. But you don't need to worry anymore, I'm going to take care of the rest of these guys" said Naruto as he placed Kakashi back onto the bridge.

Turning to face Gato and his army of bandits, Naruto said "Leave now or die, I don't give second chances"

Gato scoffed and said "Men, whoever gets that brat's head will be set for life" The bandits roared with excitement at the thought of money but changed when Naruto finished his handsigns.

 **Wind Release: Great Vacuum Blades**

Nobody saw what left Naruto's out stretched hands but the entire group of the bandits along with Gato were suddenly shredded into tiny piece by invisible wind blades.

Sakura stood behind Naruto with wide eyes, ' _He really is a powerful shinobi"_

At the end of the mission:

Tazuna and the people of Wave watched as the two squads from Hidden Leaf Village leave across the newly finished bridge.

"What should we call the bridge, Tazuna" asked one of the villagers

"I saw a teenager stand here as man and single handedly tear an army apart because they threatened my life and the completion of this bridge that lead to the freedom of this bridge. This bridge will now and forever go by "The Great Naruto Bridge" replied Tazuna with a smile on his face.

 **A/N: So, I'm back and working on my stories again. I tried to give everyone a bit of the shine in this chapter. I was accused of bashing Sakura and Sasuke when I was pointing out that without Naruto to give Sakura confidence and provide that rival to Sasuke in the academy, they were weaker than their canon parts.**

 **Oh, and if it wasn't clear, Itachi and Kisame weren't actually there. It was the same Jutsu as the one used during the Gaara Retrieval Arc. It wouldn't be realistic for Naruto or Kurenai to be able to go blow for blow with Kisame or Itachi. Naruto is closer to that Zabuza level, a weaker Jonin. I don't believe that we see Zabuza in his prime during part 1 canon because he was on the run and wasn't training or honing his skills. But I could be wrong.**

Bonus Part: I Wood if I could (New story idea)

The Third Hokage was a busy man, as he had to run a village, but he was still as sharp as ever. Nothing ever escaped his attention unless he allowed it to do so. So, when for the first time in nearly 3 weeks, he didn't hear the cries of a Baby in his office, he was immediately on guard.

Going over to the corner, he found an empty crib and he summoned his ANBU immediately.

"Where is young Naruto? I left him here in my office during the council meeting, under your care Hawk" questioned Hiruzen

"Sir, you sent a letter with Serpent that you wanted Serpent to transport young Naruto to you. It was signed by you sir; the note even had your Hokage Seal on it" replied Hawk

"Serpent? But that's the code name of Orochimaru, we don't use that one anymore" muttered Hiruzen under his breath before his mind put together some pieces and said, "Gather all of the ANBU, I want Orochimaru and Naruto found and brought to me, unharmed if possible for the snake and any other condition will be unacceptable for Naruto."

Hiruzen and his top agents raced through the village before Hiruzen was summoned by Shark to an underground bunker, one like where they found Tenzo. Unsure of what he would find in the bunker, Hiruzen opened the bunker and travelled to the main chamber. There he found Naruto, alive and well if not a bit dirty and a note.

 _I think that this experiment will work better than any of the other's, sensei._

 _-Orochimaru_

 **Next chapter we will be starting the chunnin exams and that's where I hope that the story will pick up. I promised that the Chunnin exams would be where I started the more serious Kurenai/Naruto interactions and I plan on delivering.**

 **Speaking of interactions, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply, and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between, sometimes.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Unless you're going to be a dick about it, then you can literally kick rocks.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I feel like nobody brought up** **my new story teaser that was at the end of the last chapter, it was a Mokuton Naruto story. Do you guys not want that? A yes or no will. I don't plan on making more than a couple of more stories, I want to try and finish this story and Agent Whiskers of SHIELD before I make another story, but I will do that one if people are interested.**

 **Also, the deleted scenes are things that happen but also don't if that makes sense. You could fit them into the story as I imagine them there, but sometimes they don't always allow the story to flow like I want, hence why they are deleted scenes, I make like 4-5 of them per chapter**

" _You could do a little better" called out the voice, causing Naruto to look up at the older man._

" _You seem to have an opinion for something that doesn't concern you, old man" spat Naruto as he closed his eyes and tried to focus once more._

" _It would suit you well to show me some respect Nine Tails" said the old man_

 _Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the old man and said "Listen, if you aren't the Hokage, you need to get off my property."_

 _A swipe of a cane came towards Naruto but the blond Genin caught the wooden staff and narrowed his eyes._

" _Who are you?" questioned Naruto as he looked at the old man with bandages around a bunch of his body_

" _My name is Danzo, boy. And you are now my pet" said Danzo as the bandages around his eye dropped to reveal a spinning Sharingan that Naruto made the mistake of making eye contact with._

 _Naruto looked at Danzo and his eyes reflected the Sharingan in Danzo's head, but while Naruto wasn't used to this level of Genjutsu, someone inside of him was._

 _' **What is this? This feels like the cheapest version of Madara's Genjutsu. I will not allow myself or my host to ever get caught in something as pathetic as this.'**_ _Roared Kurama before he unleashed his chakra, flooding Naruto's body and forcibly ripping the Genjutsu from Naruto's body._

 _Naruto shook his head and looked at the shocked Danzo. This time, the red in Naruto's eyes weren't a Sharingan reflection, it was the power of the Kyuubi flowing through Naruto._

 _Naruto phased out of view and appeared back in front of Danzo, his hand outstretched and in one fluid motion ripped the eye out of Danzo's head. Danzo's body was still in shock from the forceful backlash of the Genjutsu and the power of the Kyuubi's poisonous chakra that effected his older body quite negatively._

 _Danzo could do nothing as Naruto crushed the Sharingan that had been in Danzo's head._

 _"_ _ **Leave before you lose more than this eye, it would be quite hard to do anything when you lose your only functioning arm"**_ _Hissed Naruto._

 _The choice was taken from Danzo when Hiruzen arrived and he looked every bit the God of Shinobi that was his title._

 _"The thing about Roots, Danzo, they are the first part of the tree to die" said Hiruzen before his chakra flared and both Danzo and Naruto were forced to their knees by the mere presence of the man and his chakra_

 _Naruto was panting as Sasuke and Sakura continued to press him in this spar. It had been about 6 weeks since they returned from the Land of the Waves and the two younger Genin had grown in leaps and bounds. With the awaking of his Sharingan, Sasuke just continuously got better, his understanding of chakra and how to use it growing exponentially as his eyes unlocked an entire new level of to see and understand how chakra was being used._

 _But as much as Sasuke had grown, Sakura had made more progress in her growth. Kakashi realized how lucky he had been to have Sakura on his team, she had quite literally saved his life and thus she was rewarded properly, with intense training. Sakura had to quite her diet after a trip to the hospital revealed that she was bordering on malnourishment due to the lack of calories that she was intaking. Kurenai had stopped by a couple of times to help Sakura out with her Genjutsu, however everyone couldn't help but notice that she always spent a sizable portion of her visits to talk to Naruto._

 _Another surprising development was the budding friendship between Sasuke and Hinata. They were seen sparring a couple of times, but that was more than most of Sasuke's interactions with his fellow Genin. The person who had made no progress was Naruto, but that was a bit different, he had hit a wall. His workouts and training weren't producing positive results anymore. Naruto was fine with it, his skills were solid, good even. So, after a month without improving, Naruto dialed it back and committed to helping his teammates improve. His Taijutsu training with Sakura, had helped her improve her ability to react. She still need to polish it out more, but that would come with further use of the new style of fighting._

 _Back to the spar, Sasuke charged at Naruto who blocked the kick to the head by the Uchiha. Using the foot of the Uchiha, Naruto twisted Sasuke into the way of Sakura's punch only for Sakura to explode into flower petals as soon as she hit Sasuke. Naruto closed his eyes and allowed his chakra to leak out and look for the source of the illusion. Tossing Sasuke to the side, Naruto blurred to his left and planted his fist into the stomach of Sakura. Hard enough to break the Genjutsu, but not hard enough to do any type of serious damage._

 _"Enough" called out Kakashi, stopping the trio of Genin from hurting each other anymore than they already had._

 _Naruto helped Sakura up and them along with Sasuke approached Kakashi._

 _"Now, I know that we've only really been together for about 6 months, but we've all made a lot of progress. Some more than others *cough cough Naruto cough cough*, but progress none the less. That is why, I have nominated you guys for the Chunnin exams that will be taking place in 3 days from now, here in Konoha."_

 _With that Kakashi pulled out 3 paper forms, one for each of them._

 _Sakura grabbed the sheet of paper offered to her and asked "Kakashi-Sensei, do you really think that we are ready for something like this?"_

 _Kakashi gave her a weird look and said, "I don't know Sakura, are you ready to defend two people from a large group of bandits with only a kunai to protect yourself and the two-other people?" the rhetorical question hung in the air before Kakashi continued._

 _"I have faith in all of you, I wouldn't throw you into something that you weren't ready for it. Besides if you run into anyone super tough, just throw Naruto at them and run away" joked Kakashi._

 _The three Genin laughed and they all went their separate ways, as they had 3 days to prepare for the Chunnin Exams that they were going to participate in._

 _With Naruto:_

 _He was walking around when he saw Konohamaru running away from his academy classmates. Naruto smiled at seeing the young Sarutobi having fun with someone other than Naruto when he used to visit the Hokage compound for training, Naruto would always arrive early to play with Konohamaru._

 _"Hey, let me go!" called out the familiar voice of Konohamaru_

 _Naruto raced over to wear he had heard it coming from and saw that a man in a suit that covered him from head to toe with purple paint on his face was holding Konohamaru by the young kid's neck._

"I would suggest putting down my friend" said Naruto to the guy, he now realized was a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Sand, based on his headband.

"Oh, and what if I don't? What are you going to do about it tree hug- "said the foreign ninja before he was stopped by Naruto appearing behind him.

The teenage foreign ninja felt his cheek as he realized that he had gotten cut on his cheek and that the kid that he was holding was no longer in his hands, but in the blond tree hugger's hands.

"What could happen is that you lose your head, you assaulted the grandson of the Third Hokage." Said Naruto before he turned to the blonde sand ninja and said to her, "You should tell him to keep his hands to himself before he has no hands"

She gulped, and Naruto said, "who are you?"

The guy with the face paint said, "Kakuro"

The blonde female said, "Temari"

Naruto shook his head and said, "No, the guy in the tree"

Suddenly in a shower of sand, a red-haired male stood before Naruto. His eyes were covered in the heaviest bags that Naruto had ever seen. He also had the symbol for love on his forehead.

"You were able to sense me" said the red head, his voice as tired sounding as his face looked.

"I did, my name is Naruto Uzumaki" said Naruto before he extended his hand

"Gaara of the Sand, let's go guys" said Gaara before he left with his team, leaving Naruto hanging.

Naruto watched the foreign team leave his view and sighed, it seems that Suna had sent their "Weapon", an unstable kid whose Bijuu acts like it's the kid's mother.

Naruto turned and made his way to the Hokage Tower, as the Third Hokage probably needed to know about this development.

With Sasuke while Naruto was encountering the team from Suna:

It was chilling to enter the compound every time that he did it. The lack of people was so unnatural, for what should be busy clan compound. The lack of people only gave way to the pure silence that graced the compound. Sasuke was used to it, because he didn't really have a choice if he wanted to continue on here.

"You know, you don't have to come all the way into the compound to get me. That is why there is gate people, Sasuke" said the soft voice of Hinata as she emerged from a hallway and walked toward Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged and said, "Maybe I like walking to meet you"

Hinata made a face but fell in line with Sasuke as they walked towards the exit of compound together.

"You know, you've been a little different ever since that Wave mission" commented Sasuke

"I don't think that you can make a claim like that, you didn't know me before" countered Hinata as they exited the compounded and started navigating the village streets

"Exactly, that is my point, you were basically wall paper before. Now you can see the Hyuga Heiress as she should be, confident with her head held high" replied Sasuke as they made a turn,

"Maybe, I had to grow. You would have died, Kiba would have died, Tazuna's family would have died. If there was ever a time to not be unsure of yourself, it was probably that one" replied the pale eyed girl

"So, do you know why the called this little get together?" asked Sasuke, trying to change the topic

"I can only assume it is because of the Chunnin Exams that are being held in the village in a couple of days." Said Hinata as they came to a stop outside of a building that simply said " _Dumpling Delight"_

Sasuke looked up at the sign and asked Hinata, "Do we really have to go to this?"

Hinata didn't answer verbally as she just pushed Sasuke inside and saw most of the Konoha 8 (No Naruto equals one less than 9). Sasuke saw Ino and Sakura doing that fake nice talking thing that girls did, Kiba was talking to Choji while Shino listened in apparently. Shikamaru wasn't anywhere in sight, but Sasuke kind of expected that.

"OMG SASUKE!" screamed Ino as she launched herself at the Uchiha. Sasuke was prepared though and substituted with Kiba. Sakura smiled at the sight of Sasuke avoiding Ino before she gave a jealous glare at Hinata. Which caused the Hyuga heiress to sigh, before she walked further into the restaurant

With Naruto:

It was weird to knock on this door when he had turned his back on the man who resided in this office over a year ago. Taking a deep breathe, Naruto knocked on the door and waited for the man behind it to say "Enter"

Naruto entered and with a quick scan of the office, saw that the room was basically the same.

"Naruto? To what do I owe this pleasure?" questioned the Third Hokage from behind his desk

"I was walking around when I saw someone trying to bully Konohamaru, but after I stopped that, the guys teammate appeared. The way that the chakra rolled of this guy, there is no doubt that he is the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku. Suna sent their unstable jinchūriki to the Chunnin exams" said Naruto

Hiruzen eyes narrowed and he said "Then it is as I assumed it to be. Naruto do you know about the Hidden Sound Village? They are an upstart village somewhere in the land of Grass. Our sources have said that they have been raising an army, which came along with their paperwork to enter this Chunnin Exams. I believe that they plan on starting trouble sometime soon and with us"

"Why are you telling me this" asked Naruto

Hiruzen stood up and turned to the window that overlooked the village and said, "Naruto, I am an old man, older than almost any shinobi has lived. I'm 69 years old, an antique of a different world. The world has pasted me by, I am no longer the Shinobi that I once was. I had hoped that you would be ready to take my place when the time came, but you have made it clear that you have no desire to wear this hat.

Instead, I will look elsewhere for the successor of this hat. However, there is something that you must know. I have written it down in this scroll, something that I had hoped that I could deal with myself but seeing as how these old bones don't seem as firm as they once did, I can only leave it to you." The Third Hokage turned around and handed Naruto, the plainest scroll that Naruto had ever seen.

Naruto moved to open it and read it on the spot, but Hiruzen raised his hand said, "Read it when you return home Naruto. I was just about to go for a small walk before the sunset, let we walk you out"

And just like that, Naruto and the Third Hokage walked out of the office, out of the building, and into the darkening Konoha streets. Eventually, they reached a fork in the road and went their separate ways.

The day of the Chunnin Exams:

Naruto hadn't seen or heard from the Hokage after that night when he got the scroll, but he wasn't concerned. You don't get to live to nearly 70 without being one of the greatest and most powerful Shinobi of all time.

So, here he was, waiting for his squad mates in front of the Academy, paperwork tucked into his jacket's inner pocket.

Sasuke arrived first, his left arm wrapped from the elbow down in bandages. Naruto knew that the Uchiha had probably been doing some left second training.

"You didn't hurt your hand too, badly did you?" asked Naruto.

"No, it isn't even hurt, but nobody else has to know that" replied Sasuke with a smirk on his face.

Sakura approached, with a more serious look on her face then either Naruto or Sasuke had seen before. She looked at them and asked, "Are you ready?"

They nodded and the three of them walked into Academy together. They slipped past the Genjutsu covered second floor claiming a need for the 4th floor bathroom. It was outside the testing room that they came face to face with Kakashi.

"I'm glad to see that you all decided to participate, as you needed a squad of 3 to enter." Said Kakashi

Sakura frowned and asked, "Why didn't you tell us that Sensei?"

"Because I didn't want Naruto to pressure you into taking this exam just because he's promotion ready nor did I want you to just take the exam because Sasuke wanted to. I wanted each of you to make this choice by yourself. One of the first lessons you will learn as a Chunnin is that you have to make your own decisions. I believe that all of you are ready to attempt to take that step.

Naruto, you just need to stop forcing your own expectations onto your teammates, not everyone is you and has plot protection. Sasuke, you have done a good job humbling yourself, although the constant loses in sparring with Naruto and myself probably had something to do with that, but if you can continue to keep your ego in check, you will be okay. Sakura, you've grown the most, you are a smart capable shinobi, believe in yourself and you'll be fine. Trust your abilities and each of you will be fine, besides I doubt that anyone here is really going to be stronger than Naruto or myself, these are Genin after all." The second that he was down with his pep talk, Kakashi disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Naruto looked at his teammates, and upon getting a nod from both of them, pushed the doors open to enter the first test waiting room. There wasn't a couple of dozen like Sakura had hoped for, or the 100-200 that Sasuke thought there was going to be, there was the 360 Genin in the room, which is less than Naruto had wanted.

Sakura and Sasuke drifted off slightly to talk to their classmates from the Academy while Naruto continued to scan the room. He noticed Gaara looking at him from across the room, their eyes meeting and the hunger for battle in both of them showing in their eyes. Naruto also noticed the sound Genin were close by the Sand Genin.

"You know Naruto, I wasn't expecting to see you here" said the voice of someone Naruto knew in passing.

"Kabuto, you pour bastard, you are taking this test again?" Naruto asked the glass wearing Genin.

"Yeah, but what can a guy do but try" came the response from Kabuto

"I don't get why you don't just stay at the hospital and earn your promotion that way, I have yet to meet a better healer. I guess you are a pretty good information gather as well, maybe go ANBU" suggested Naruto

"I might have to if I continue to fail at this shit" replied Kabuto before a smirk crossed his face and he asked Naruto, "What to see me mess with the newbies?"

Naruto scoffed but nodded nonetheless, it was also interesting to see Kabuto mess with the new Genins' mind.

Kabuto approached the Konoha 8 and said, "You guys seem excited to be here for the Chunnin Exams, you've even managed to draw the attention of the other Genin."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Kabuto and I am a bit of a Chunnin Exam veteran, this is my 4th year trying and my 7th exam in total" answered Kabuto before he pulled out a giant stack of cards.

Kiba gasped at seeming them and said, "That's a big ass stack of cards, why do you even keep those?"

Kabuto smirked and said, "For reasons like this" before he channeled chakra into the card and suddenly the card was full of Kiba's info, a rating of his skills, his mission completions, and a basic bit of background info.

This grew interest in the Genin and Kabuto said "These are my Ninja Info Cards, I can give you a bit of info on just about anyone here"

Sasuke stepped forward and said "Naruto Uzumaki"

Kabuto glanced back at Naruto who shrugged before Kabuto pulled out another card and suddenly it had Naruto's info on it.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Age 17. He has 7.8 in Gen/Tai/NinJutsu, his physical strength is a 6.5 out of 10 and his speed is a 7/10. His chakra levels are Kage level. He has completed 1307 D ranked missions, 60 C Ranked Missions, 2 B ranked Missions, 1 A ranked mission, and 0 S ranked mission." Kabuto read off the card.

Suddenly an instructor burst into the room and said "Enough talking, this exam is about to begin".

 **A/N: A bit of a subpar chapter, I kind of feel that even as I wrote it. I kind of just wanted to get the Chunnin Exams started. Yes Kabuto and Naruto are friends, they are around the same age and would have been running in the same circles of Genin.**

 **Next Chapter, we aren't even going to deal with the written exam, we are going straight into the Forest of Death. I'm trying to add depth to the characters but also not have the story drag, but no matter what the Chunnin Exams are going to be finished within the next 7 chapters.**

 **Deleted Scene:**

And just like that, Naruto and the Third Hokage walked out of the office, out of the building, and into the darkening Konoha streets. Eventually, they reached a fork in the road and went their separate ways.

With Naruto at his apartment:

Naruto was quick to unravel the scroll and found that it was filled with the Third Hokage's hand writing.

 _To Naruto_

 _It had been a long time in the making, but I want to explain what happened on that night. It went a lot differently than the way that things ended. That night with Danzo, there was another man, someone who wore an ornage spiral mask. He believed me to be under his control, and for a moment I was. However, they don't call me the Professor for no reason, I was able to break his control shortly after. The way that night went was like this:_

" _You could do a little better" called out the voice, causing Naruto to look up at the older man._

" _You seem to have an opinion for something that doesn't concern you, old man" spat Naruto as he closed his eyes and tried to focus once more._

" _It would suit you well to show me some respect Nine Tails" said the old man_

 _Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the old man and said "Listen, if you aren't the Hokage, you need to get off my property."_

 _A swipe of a cane came towards Naruto but the blond Genin caught the wooden staff and narrowed his eyes._

" _Who are you?" questioned Naruto as he looked at the old man with bandages around a bunch of his body_

" _My name is Danzo, boy. And you are now my pet" said Danzo as the bandages around his eye dropped to reveal a spinning Sharingan that Naruto made the mistake of making eye contact with._

 _Naruto looked at Danzo and his eyes reflected the Sharingan in Danzo's head, but while Naruto wasn't used to this level of Genjutsu, someone inside of him was._

 _' **What is this? This feels like the cheapest version of Madara's Genjutsu. I will not allow myself or my host to ever get caught in something as pathetic as this.'**_ _Roared Kurama before he unleashed his chakra, flooding Naruto's body and forcibly ripping the Genjutsu from Naruto's body._

 _Naruto shook his head and looked at the shocked Danzo. This time, the red in Naruto's eyes weren't a Sharingan reflection, it was the power of the Kyuubi flowing through Naruto._

 _Naruto phased out of view and appeared back in front of Danzo, his hand outstretched and in one fluid motion ripped the eye out of Danzo's head. Danzo's body was still in shock from the forceful backlash of the Genjutsu and the power of the Kyuubi's poisonous chakra that effected his older body quite negatively._

 _Danzo could do nothing as Naruto crushed the Sharingan that had been in Danzo's head._

 _"_ _ **Leave before you lose more than this eye, it would be quite hard to do anything when you lose your only functioning arm"**_ _Hissed Naruto._

 _The choice was taken from Danzo when Hiruzen arrived and he looked every bit the God of Shinobi that was his title._

 _"The thing about Roots, Danzo, they are the first part of the tree to die" said Hiruzen before his chakra flared and both Danzo and Naruto were forced to their knees by the mere presence of the man and his chakra_

 _Hiruzen created a shadow clone and had it help Naruto to his feet._

" _Naruto, I am going to need you to leave. I have a traitor to put down" said Hiruzen as he ordered Naruto away. Naruto wanted to stay but he wasn't one to not follow a direct order from his Hokage and raced away._

 _Hiruzen nodded to his clone who started to fly through handsigns, just like the real one did the same._

 _ **Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu**_

 _ **Wind Release: Wind Bullet**_

 _The flames fueled by wind raced towards Danzo who ripped his bandages off his left side to reveal a pale arm full of Sharingans. What happened next disgusted Hiruzen, as Danzo used his hidden arm to erect a wooden wall to stop the flames._

 _Hiruzen's rage skyrocketed as did his chakra output as he spat, "You dare to defile one of the greatest men to ever grace this world's grave. It would only be fitting to put you in your own grave."_

 _Suddenly Hiruzen's clone popped and Hiruzen spun around to where his new memories showed that I had been defeated at and came face to face with an orange spiral mask that had a single eye hole. Inside that eye hole was a Sharingan that spun and Hiruzen heard "I'm here to protect my investment Danzo" before he knew no more._

 _ **While that is what happened, if you're reading this that means that I'm ready to take care of our Sharingan wielding masked friend. Hiruzen Sarutobi.**_

Naruto had finished reading the scroll when an rumble was heard coming from outside, and it rocked the village. Naruto tried to go outside but there were ANBU everywhere and they were pushing everyone back inside.

"What is going on Hawk?" asked Naruto

"Nothing that concerns you, return to your apartment Naruto or we will force you" replied Hawk with his hand on his sword.

Naruto had a feeling that he knew what was going on but decided that it was in his best interest to listen to the man with a sword.

 **Bonus Part: I Wood if I could (New story idea)**

The Third Hokage was a busy man, as he had to run a village, but he was still as sharp as ever. Nothing ever escaped his attention unless he allowed it to do so. So, when for the first time in nearly 3 weeks, he didn't hear the cries of a Baby in his office, he was immediately on guard.

Going over to the corner, he found an empty crib and he summoned his ANBU immediately.

"Where is young Naruto? I left him here in my office during the council meeting, under your care Hawk" questioned Hiruzen

"Sir, you sent a letter with Serpent that you wanted Serpent to transport young Naruto to you. It was signed by you sir; the note even had your Hokage Seal on it" replied Hawk

"Serpent? But that's the code name of Orochimaru, we don't use that one anymore" muttered Hiruzen under his breath before his mind put together some pieces and said, "Gather all of the ANBU, I want Orochimaru and Naruto found and brought to me, unharmed if possible for the snake and any other condition will be unacceptable for Naruto."

Hiruzen and his top agents raced through the village before Hiruzen was summoned by Shark to an underground bunker, one like where they found Tenzo. Unsure of what he would find in the bunker, Hiruzen opened the bunker and travelled to the main chamber. There he found Naruto, alive and well if not a bit dirty and a note.

 _I think that this experiment will work better than any of the other's, sensei._

 _-Orochimaru_

 **Next chapter we will be starting the chunnin exams and that's where I hope that the story will pick up. I promised that the Chunnin exams would be where I started the more serious Kurenai/Naruto interactions and I plan on delivering.**

 **Speaking of interactions, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply, and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between, sometimes.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Unless you're going to be a dick about it, then you can literally kick rocks.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry about the gap between updates, I've been working my ass of for school and my job has been extra shitty since my boss quit and we've basically been all hands on deck until we can get someone trained to replace her. Neither are excuses, both are really not your problem. This chapter is kind of filler and kind of helping establishing the power scale of the story.**

" _First order of business, I want you to take off that mask Itachi, for after today, I don't believe that you will be on your current squad, I plan on making you more of an active ANBU rather than the security patrols around the villages as you've been doing now." The young Uchiha of 14 removed his mask to reveal his place face and black eyes. Itachi looked at the Third Hokage who looked every single one of his 62 years of life. Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back into his seat and looked at the Uchiha that sat across from him._

" _Now, there is a little-known secret, but the position of Hokage is not something that is merely picked or voted upon. The position is something that is picked from a young age, we are never sure of who is going to actually be the Hokage, but there is always a group of 4 to 7 children in each generation that we believe have the potential to become the Hokage of the future. Of my generation, it was myself, Danzo, and my two teammates. I was chosen due to my selflessness and ability to rally the troops and leadership. Of the next generation, it was the Legendary Sannin and the White Fang, and I alw_ _ays believed that if had to make a choice about one of these four that it would be Tsunade. Jiraiya wasn't serious enough for the job when he was younger and Orochimaru was never the type of person who everyone would nor could look to for guidance or help._

 _And the picks of the generation after that it was Minato, Kushina, Your clan leader and the Hyuga Clan leader. Minato was chosen because he had that really strong feel good story and the fame that he had generated from the stories of his exploits in the war. The generation after that the candidates are Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma, and Shikaku Nara. If I had to choose one of these four, it would be Kakashi first and then Shikaku second, because despite the lack of visual confirmation, Kakashi is just as smart and almost five times as deadly as Shikaku, and with his transplanted Sharingan, he would be a force that in his peak form, would give in the Sannin and myself the greatest of fits. And now that would bring us to the current crop of this generation. The few that stand out even though their ages are all under the age of 7, is Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, and finally Sasuke Uchiha, as for why there is only 3 on this list, is because we haven't managed to identify the correct fourth candidate or he simply isn't directly in this generation, such as yourself and that Uchiha friend of yours, who are in between this generation_ _and the last. However, the choice this time around is clear, Naruto Uzumaki will be the next Hokage, he has no choice in the matter"_

In a cave in the Land of Earth

" _So, tell me, just how strong is Naruto Uzumaki?"_ Asked a shadowy figure, his purple eyes with ripple patterns

Kisame grinned largely and said, "That kid is legit, every bit as good as our network said he was. The kid has easily as much chakra or more than myself, he was strong and fast enough to fight Zabuza to a standstill."

The purple eyes narrowed at this report before glancing toward Itachi who nodded.

"Naruto Uzumaki is not someone that we can allow to roam free. He has grown from an average ninja in the time that I have been gone from the village. To make such a leap in strength, from Genin to Jonin in the matter of a couple of years … with no signs of slowing down any time soon, we could have a threat that might require more than just 2 of us, of course he correct Jonin Sensei doesn't help the situation." Stated Itachi

"Kakashi Hatake, a man who is somehow more famous for using the Sharingan than most of the Uchiha clan. An S ranked threat in every single village, said to equally smart as he is skilled. Is there any way that we could get him to join us?" asked a hunched over shadowy figured, clearly not the form of any normal figure

Itachi shook his head "The thing about Kakashi is that his biggest strength is his biggest weakness, there isn't one. He is a master of all fields, only limited by his chakra pools which have nearly tripled since we last met. He is just too headstrong to follow any order with questioning it and changing it for the betterment of his team, Kakashi would most likely join us to learn our weaknesses and then take us down from the inside."

" _So we have Naruto Uzumaki who is growing at a rate that we need to stop and we still have his sensei who is supposedly equal any one of us? Well, all that means is that we need to either capture Naruto immediately and hold him captive or get him to hand over the Kyuubi of his own free will." Said the purple eyed figure before he continued onto to say "The wraith of God is coming faster than Konoha knows it"_

Naruto held up their Earth scroll up in his hand and said to his teammates, "One of us has to hold onto this"

Sasuke nodded and both him and Sakura were shocked when their older blond-haired teammate offered it to Sakura.

"W what? You want me to carry the scroll? But you and Sasuke are stronger than me, wouldn't it be better if one of you held onto it?" came the question riddled response from Sakura.

Naruto smirked and replied, "You're plenty strong enough, you can do this" before he put the scroll into the hands of his pink haired teammate and walked toward their gate, leaving no room for her argument or at the very least with him.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and tried to tell him with her eyes that she wanted him to take the scroll from her. It seemed like he got the memo until he reached into his back pouch and pulled out a field ration.

"I only have 4 left, try not to forget your own next time" Sasuke said as he placed the ration on top of the scroll in her hands and walked off to go wait with Naruto. Sakura accepted that she was going to be tasked with holding onto the scroll.

She joined her teammates at her team's gate, she didn't have to wait long as the gate opened, and her team raced off in a blur. They were jumping through the trees that made up Training Ground 44 aka The Forest of Death. Sakura looked around as the forest was flying, she saw nothing but forest. Suddenly Naruto lead them to a stop and shushed them silently.

'3 guys to the south-east of us, about 7 meters away' Naruto signaled with their sign language before he spoke verbally "Guys, I hate to say this, but I have to use the bathroom."

Sasuke scoffed and Sakura knew that she had to play her part, "Ew, that' so gross Naruto. You have to do that behind us, I will not take a change that I step in that"

Naruto and Sasuke gave her small signs of approval at her playing her part before she allowed her chakra to bend and fold inside of her. She didn't have a huge amount of chakra, although it was easily 5 times as much as she had when she graduated the academy.

So, as Naruto started to walk off to "handle his business", Sakura did her job of casting one of the Genjutsu that Kurenai had taught her. Sakura had spent a lot of time practicing this one, to the point that she could replicate the way that she had to manipulate her chakra to activate the Jutsu.

So while Naruto went off to let the waters of life flow from within, the 3 ninja from the Village hidden in Rain, jumped into the clearing. They were not met with the sight of a bored Sasuke and a disgusted Sakura, but the sight of an empty clearing.

The Ame shinobi looked around before their leader turned back to his squad mates and asked, "Where the hell did they go?"

A Kunai slit his throat from behind, causing his blood to squirt out onto his teammates. His lifeless body dropped to the ground, causing the other two Ame ninja to start to back pedal. However, hands shot up from underground and grasped the Ame shinobi on the left's ankles and pulled her all the way underground to her head.

The final Ame boy was trembling and when he heard a growling behind him, he fainted.

Back in the real world:

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto looked at the three Ame ninja that were on the ground in the fetal position, sobbing.

"I thought you used a basic scare Genjutsu?" asked Naruto, as he looked at the crying teens.

"I did, but they were so pathetic that it didn't take much to break them." Replied Sakura.

Naruto shrugged and started digging through their supplies taking their Earth scroll and whatever they would be able to use.

"They have an Earth Scroll, but we're going to be taking this to limit the amount that can pass this portion of the Exam" stated Naruto when Sasuke opened his mouth to ask about why they were taking the earth scroll that they didn't need.

Naruto created a Shadow Clone and the 3 of them left, the clone stayed behind to make sure that the Ame shinobi wouldn't be a revenge threat in the future.

So, our 3 her… I mean our 3 main characters continued to move through the forest, moving closer and closer to the middle. They hadn't run into anyone other than a group of dead Ame Ninja who had bits of sand on them.

They were about to take a break when Naruto felt a shift in the wind and pulled Sasuke and Sakura down from the tree tops, just in time for a massive blast of wind to destroy the entire line of tree tops that it hit.

"Would you look at that, you managed to avoid being killed before the fight even started, I believe that a round of applauses is in order." Said a Grass shinobi who jumped down onto the forest floor not that far away from them.

Naruto's eyes steeled themselves as his body naturally prepared itself for a fight, and a fight against someone strong. He was on edge, but he wasn't scared. He knew that the person before him was strong but couldn't put a finger on how strong.

"I don't know who you are, but I would suggest you leave before I make you leave" stated Naruto confidently.

"Ke ke ke, it is so funny to see little Naru threaten me, oh this does bring back memories." Stated the Grass Shinobi

"Naru? Do you know this guy Naruto?" asked Sasuke

"I don't know, the only person to call me Naru was when I was a kid, and that was Orochimaru … SHIT!" cursed Naruto as the Grass Shinobi chuckled before pulling off his face, revealing the pale face of the Snake Sannin.

"Little Naruto Uzumaki is all grown up and even threatening people, oh how your parents would be ashamed." Taunted Orochimaru

Confusion crossed Naruto's face causing Orochimaru to ask "They still haven't told you about your parent? tsk tsk. It seems Hiruzen-Sensei still likes to play with fire." '

Naruto appeared behind Orochimaru, prepared to take his head off, but it was for naught. The snake like man didn't even turn around, he just bent his arm and slammed his elbow into Naruto's forearm sending the kunai based slash upwards. Naruto hissed in pain as he felt his forearm hit an unmovable object.

"Now now, Naruto. That is not the proper way to greet people, even if you are the son of Kushina." Said Orochimaru, his eyes never leaving the sight of Sasuke.

"What are you doing here, you snake" spat Naruto

"I thought that it would be clear, I want the Sharingan for myself. With older brother off with the Red Clouds, I have a much better chance of getting what I want from the younger brother." Replied Orochimaru, his eyes not even blinking.

"I don't give a damn who you are, you're not getting a damn thing from me" snarled Sasuke, his anger growing at the sound of Orochimaru coming here to rip his eyes out of his skull.

"I'm afraid you don't really have a choice in the matter Sasuke. You see, I already failed to take your brother's body, so I will have to make due with yours" stated the snake man.

"W what? You can't have my body" spat Sasuke

"Again, it is cute that you think that you stand a chance against me" said Orochimaru

"Like hell you are going anywhere near Sasuke" said Naruto as he appeared in front of his teammates, his normally calm sky blue eyes were now a cold dark blue with slit pupils.

"And who is going to stop me?" challenged the Snake Sannin

"Me! You two get out of here" said Naruto, first to Orochimaru and then to his teammates.

Surprisingly both of them just listened and jumped away causing Orochimaru to lick his lips in excitement.

"Look at little Naru, providing me with a great chance to get some exercise before i get what I want" came the words from the Sannin.

Naruto didn't say anything as he kept the cold look on his face before his hands glowed briefly before erupting in flames.

Orochimaru tilted his head in interest at the sight of such advanced elemental chakra manipulation from Naruto. That tilting of the head allowed him to avoid the flaming slash from the hot tempered Naruto.

However, if you are going to attack one of the 20 strongest people on the face of the planet, try to end them in one shot. That is one piece of advice, another is don't miss on your first attack either. With the missed attack from Naruto, Orochimaru used the opportunity to slam his open palm into the chest of Naruto.

Naruto flew back and slammed into a tree, out of breathe and in quite the bit of pain. Gritting his teeth, Naruto launched himself back at Orochimaru, this time with a slower and more controlled attack, his more standardized fighting style. Different method, same result.

Orochimaru bent his torso around Naruto's arm, before jerking to the left and snapping the blond haired shinobi's arm like a twig.

Snarling in anger Naruto growled as his broken arm hissed as red chakra oozed outwards from the now 2 part limb. Orochimaru detached himself from Naruto as he knew that the violent chakra of the Kyuubi wasn't something that he wanted to experience on or in his body.

"You can't win, leave it alone child" were the words that came from Orochimaru as he turned his back on Naruto in the direction that Sasuke and Sakura ran off in.

Naruto's anger grew as he was ignored by the Snake Sannin. His arm clicked back into place and in an instant, a spinning ball of chakra was in his hand as he launched himself back at the man who dared to turn his back on him in the middle of a fight.

Bending in half as the spinning ball of death and the boy holding it sailed over it, Orochimaru lashed out with his right leg and caught Naruto in the chest, sending him tumbling off to the side.

The red cloak that had covered his right arm quickly spread all over the rest of his body. Naruto climbed back to his feet, the aching of his arm and ribs fading with the chakra of the Kyuubi covered his body.

"It doesn't matter If you use that beast's chakra, you're in over your head Naruto." Commented the snake like man.

Naruto said nothing as he rushed the pale skinned man. The method was different, Naruto was stronger, faster, and had more stamina than before. Did it help him gain the edge in the fight against Orochimaru? Did it level the playing field between the living legend and the genin? No, the answer was absolutely not.

Being covered in the powerful chakra of Kurama, did nothing to stop the punch that broke Naruto's nose. Nor did it do anything about the follow up back hand that caused Naruto's head to snap back. It also didn't stop the kick to the chest that pushed Naruto onto his back on the ground.

Naruto growled as his single chakra tail split and suddenly there was twin tails of chakra coming out of his backside. Did this make him stronger and faster? Yes. Did it help Naruto at all in his fight? Absolutely not.

Orochimaru ducked under a wild swipe only to trip Naruto and look down at him.

"All that training that you go through and you're still this pathetic. I guess you need all the help that you can get if this the best that you can do."

 **Five Prong Seal**

And with that, Orochimaru slammed his hand into the stomach of Naruto, cutting him off the Kyuubi and it's chakra. Naruto gasped and Orochimaru lifted him up and grasped the right arm of Naruto. Looking at where the arm had been broken mere moments ago, Orochimaru looked at Naruto and whispered "With the Sharingan and the Kyuubi on my side, I can deal with the clouds."

And with that, Orochimaru bit down on the arm of Naruto and watched as the curse mark that he placed on the blond haired boy take the shape of 9 curved lines in a circle.

With Sasuke and Sakura

They had started running only 2 minutes ago, they had felt Naruto's chakra spike and then dip, only to spike upwards again. It felt red hot and angry, but as quickly as it filled the forest, it vanished.

"Do you think that Naruto won?" asked Sakura

"I would say no" stated a voice, causing both of the genin to look and see Orochimaru carrying the body of Naruto.

The pale man threw the knocked out blond on the ground in front of his teammates.

"Now, Sasuke are you ready to give in or will I have to give you a more convincing beating" asked Orochimaru

 **A/N: Yeah, Naruto got his ass whipped. What did you expect?**

 **Honestly, I don't think that this chapter was all that good, but I am rolling with it because this what I was able to come up with. Takes 1 through 6 were so much worse than this draft that I am just going to submit this.**

 **Let me know what you think.** **Next chapter we will be finishing this round of the chunnin exams and that's where I hope that the story will pick up in terms of character development. I promised that the Chunnin exams would be where I started the more serious Kurenai/Naruto interactions and I plan on delivering.**

 **Speaking of interactions, I have an interactive twitter page, the interactive Twitter is up, my handle is HKM_FF, so that is HKM_FF, please follow me there. Now you know the usual, I will tell you that I will update by this date or that date, but we all know that my pants are on fire, because I am a liar. At least when it comes to my update dates and actually updating.**

 **Anyone who has ever messaged me can attest to the fact that I do reply, and I do read you message. I respond to PM's, Reviews, bat signals and everything in between, sometimes.**

 **That's all for now, until next time. Also, if you have any suggestions or complaints, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Unless you're going to be a dick about it, then you can literally kick rocks.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I know some of yall wanted this, so I wrote this chapter and posted it. If I could I wood is going to get the next update.**

 _Hiruzen smirked as he entered a clearing and stopped. He had already given his own ANBU protectors the slip. He wasn_ _'t the God of Shinobi for no reason, he was the strongest in the world for a reason. He was the golden standard, and for him to get caught in a Genjutsu for any period of time, was impressive. He allowed the fool to think that he was under his control all of the time, but no. He had slipped out of his control months ago, he pretended to have it reapplied whenever the man came by, but now was the time to rid himself and the village of this pest._

 _Just like normal, there was a swirl in the air and suddenly, the man with the orange mask stood before him._

" _Hiruzen, you make quite the puppet, it is a shame that Orochimaru wants to kill you so soon." snickered the masked man._

 _Hiruzen kept a blank face and allowed the masked man to walk right up to him. As the masked man moved to tilt Hiruzen's head down to make eye contact, in a blur Hiruzen grasped the man's forearm and made a single hand sign and a chakra barrier surrounded the clearing._

 _The masked man gasped and Hiruzen smirked._

" _You really think that I would just allow someone to come and go from my village without issue? If there is any threat to my village, I know about it and I handle it." said Hiruzen_

 _The Masked man's shoulders started to shake and suddenly he exploded into laughs_

" _Ah, you are a funny old man." he said between laughs with a cheery voice, before he just instantly quit laughing and his voice took on a darker and serious tone. "You think you know anything about the threats outside this village walls? Hell, you don't even know the threat that you're standing on with that mummy walking in the roots of the hidden leaf village."_

 _Hiruzen frowned that the obvious jab at Danzo and was forced to jump back at the sensing of a massive amount of chakra that poured through the masked man's hand in his grasp._

 _A single tree ripped the ground open and Hiruzen snarled at the thought of this being another Orochimaru experiment made from his sensei's DNA._

" _Wood release? I guess, I should bring out the big guns as well" hissed the old Kage as he disregarded his robes to reveal his black battle armor set._

 _The masked man phased through the tree and Hiruzen made sure to avoid his Sharingan eye and instead flashed through hand signs._

" _You'll never touch me with a fire jutsu" taunted the masked man_

 _Hiruzen smirked as he released a series of wind bullets, shocking the man with the mask._

' _How the hell did he use wind release, I saw him start a fire jutsu with my Sharingan' thought the man with the mask. He was very shocked then without hand signs, Hiruzen unleashed a massive wave of fire that followed the countless wind bullets that he had released prior._

 _Phasing into his pocket dimension, the masked man grit his teeth as he allowed the flames to wash over him._

' _So he did create a fire jutsu in his body, paused it. Unleashed a wind bullet jutsu and used it as a tagger for his fire jutsu. He used a combination jutsu all by him, he truly is a titan in the Shinobi world.' thought the masked man as the seconds passed and turned into minutes._

' _OKAY SERIOUSLY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUXK. HOW IS HE DOING THIS? HE SHOULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN AN OLD FOSSIL'_ _thought the masked man as Hiruzen's flames continued on and on to the point that it was approaching his 5 minute mark._

 _Snarling, the Masked man throw out several bombs that created a small window for him to slip through. Hissing his teeth as his phasing period ended and the flames licked at his figure. Hiruzen appeared in front of him and the masked man was quick to phase again._

 _Hiruzen rolled through him and flared his chakra making the flames around him die out. 'Hmm, he was quick to phase again, it seems that he has a timer that he has on that particular Jutsu'_

 _Hiruzen made a pair of shadow clones and they fanned out to around the masked man._

 _The masked man was hissing in pain as his chakra was ripping apart his body, faster than he could regenerate from the chakra tearing him apart._

' _The old man is smart and fast, I can't afford to underestimate him again. He pumped out 5 minutes of fire, and immediately tried to attack me when he sensed me trying to clear out the flames and leave.' thought the masked man._

 _One of the Hiruzen clones attacked him from the left with pure TaiJutsu, forcing the masked man to block what he could and allow whatever he couldn't to phase through him. Gritting his teeth, he tried to grab the clone, only for a wave of water to slam in to his back._

 _It carried only inches before he allowed the water to phase through him, but that was more than enough information for Hiruzen to use to his advantage._

 _The clone immediately jumped back into attack mode, striking hard and fast. The masked man tried to keep up, redirecting several attacks while phasing through more. But as the masked man managed to grab the clone's wrist, a kunai skimmed his side and drew blood._

" _Your technique is quite the interesting one. But it seems that there Is a time limit to it, about 5 minutes. You can't be intangible and grab something at the same time. There is a weakness to this Jutsu, one that I plan to exploit." said Hiruzen as he and his clones regrouped._

 _The masked man nodded as the old Hokage had managed to figure him out fairly easily. But he did have an ace in the hole, making a hand sign, the masked man revealed that he had planted explosive notes all over the ground inside the chakra barrier._

" _Looks like we both will flame out then"_

" _ **BOOOOM!"**_

Naruto rubbed his arm, it had since healed from being broken by Orochimaru. Sasuke was rubbing his neck where Orochimaru had placed the curse mark on him. Sakura was rubbing her hangs together nervously. Kakashi was still just reading his porn, but still mindful of his team.

"Well, you three managed to make it to the Chunnin exams finals, congrats. However, the real training begins now. Naruto, you're Godfather is in town. I believe that he should be able to help you out with that. Sakura, I managed to call in a favor from Anko, she's going to help you to with some gender specific training for 2 weeks before I will take over said training. Sasuke, for the first two weeks, I will handle your training before an Anbu friend of mine will take it over from there."

The three Genin nodded before they looked at each other for the last time for a month. Sakura and Naruto walked off and Kakashi placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and the Sharingan wielding duo disappeared in an explosion of leaves.

With Naruto:

Naruto wasn't really all that excited to head home. The Chunnin Exams Finals were a month away and he was stuck facing _him_. He was sure that he could take the angry Genin, but he also didn't want to underestimate him.

Opening his door, Naruto was not surprised to see the white hair of his Godfather coming from the inside of his refrigerator.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing inside my house?" asked Naruto

"Ah, the prodigal asshole has returned" replied Jiraiya as he shut the door to the fridge. He came and threw himself backward onto the comfy couch of Naruto's.

"Not that I am not happy to see you, but I don't really get why you are here. You never really cared to be around before' stated Naruto with narrowed eyes

"I am here for a number of reasons, Naruto. First, my sensei magically ends up in the hospital and refuses to tell anyone how that ended. Second, I was told that you were given the scroll, I am here to help you crack it. Third, my Godson needs training for an entire month, this is the perfect chance to make sure that you get the training that you actually need."

Naruto blinked and looked at his silver haired Godfather with disbelief "What kind of training could you give me that Lord Old Ass Hokage couldn't give me? Isn't he still stronger than you?"

Jiraiya pouted at that line of questioning and replied with "Please, can he teach you how to summon Toads? No. Can he teach you Sage Mode? No. He can only teach you the basic shinobi skill kid, I can take you to another level. Besides, you already know of the threat that is out there, you've met the Red Clouds, you know the level of their members."

Naruto flashed back to meeting Itachi and Kisame on the bridge back in waves, and nodded. They were S ranked Shinobi, the strongest in the world.

"So don't you worry your blond little head, we just have to get you to Kage level as soon as possible" said Jiraiya

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Naruto

"Well, once you are a Chunnin, I don't have to get the Hokage's permission for you to formally become my pupil, we would be able to sign the paperwork ourselves and I could take you from the village to train, what I wanted to do originally." said Jiraiya as he gauged Naruto's reactions

"You make it sound so clear cut, I could always lose and not become a Chunnin." said Naruto with a serious look on his face.

After a brief moment, both men burst out laughing.

"Ah … I almost … had you with … that … one" said Naruto between laughs.

"Kid … you're going … to … stomp … a mudhole … in every … one" wheezed Jiraiya

1 Month Later ( **A/N: Honestly, I don't feel like describing the training in great detail. Naruto gets toads, Sakura got a jolt of Anko, Sasuke got Sharingan cheating tips, everyone is stronger)**

The Chunnin Exams finals had arrived and all 12 finalist were in the arena. Naruto towered above both Sasuke and Sakura that stood on either side of him. Sasuke looked the same but wore a black version of his standard Uchiha uniform, bandages covered his lift arm and leg.

Sakura had cut her hair to shoulder length, and that was the simplest change. She wore finger-less brown combat gloves, instead of her normal red dress, she wore a form fitting red shirt, where the left sleeve went down to her wrist and there was no right sleeve. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of black combat shorts, they came down past her knee for the extra pockets. Her right wrist hand a black band around it. All in all, she looked like she was ready to take this seriously.

Naruto had simply taken off his jacket and chain mesh shirt, leaving him in a plain black shirt with an orange Uzumaki spiral swirl on the front, while the back read "Riding the Toad Wave" in white across the back, not that Naruto knew that.

Naruto glanced over and saw Gaara and his siblings had arrived without issue. Hinata looked nervous being in front of so many people, while her cousin Neji was hissing for her to look more confident. Shikamaru looked annoyed to have to be here but was standing next to the silent Shino, who was slowly preparing his chakra with his bugs.. Rock Lee was basically vibrating in place due to how excited he was.

The only one that Naruto couldn't get a really good read on was the girl around his age from the Hidden Cloud Village, Yugito was her name if he was correct. If Naruto was being honest, she was probably the second most dangerous, because despite her control of the bijuu inside of her, Naruto could feel the power calling out to him.

The Proctor cleared his throat and suddenly his voice was all over the arena.  
"Hello, thank you for coming to the Summer Chunnin Exam finals hosted in Konoha this year. We have some of the best and brightest young shinobi in the world about to prove themselves for you. To the contestants, I wish you the best of luck. We've already gone over the rules, so will everyone not named Sakura and Hinata please leave the testing ground."

Naruto and Sasuke both gave Sakura a short nod, one that she ignored. She stood as still as a statue as she looked that the Hyuga Clan Heiress with intensity. The rest of the finalist left the arena and went to the contestant waiting arena.

In the Kage Box:

Hiruzen looked at the Kazekage and the Raikage who was attending because of the fact that one of his "Genin" had made it.

"I must say, this will be a very interesting match" commented the Raikage as his eyes were trained on the form of Hinata.

"I agree, that is the clan heiress down there. Isn't that the one that your village tried to kidnap Raikage-Dono" jabbed the Kazekage in his flat tone

A grit his teeth, but didn't say anything.

With the Jonin:

Kakashi didn't have his book out, he was giving the match his full attention, something rare.

Kurenai smirked and teased him "Nervous?"

Kakashi gave her a side glance and replied "No, she is well prepared for this fight. And if she isn't, this will be a learning experience"

In the Arena:

"Begin" said the Proctor before jumping back expecting one of the girls to rush forward. Instead, he and the crowd were greeted to the sight of them standing completely still. Neither girl had so much as moved yet, the only sign that they were alive was the slow moving of their chest.

There was a set of twin spikes in chakra and both of the girls smiled at each other.

"I hope that Genjutsu isn't your only plan of attack, with my eyes and the greatest Genjutsu user in the world as a sensei, you couldn't hope to trap me in one." said Hinata as she channeled chakra in her eyes activating her eyes.

Sakura didn't say anything but rush forward. Hinata shook her head in disappointment, as the direct attack was not the way to win this fight for Sakura.

Sakura was about two thirds of the way to Hinata when she channeled chakra through her wrist band and a blinding light exploded from it. Hinata gasped in pain as her extra sensitive eyes were blinded by the massive flare in front of her.

She again gasped in pain when a fist slammed into her face, sending her skidding backward. Gritting her teeth, the clan heiress climbed back to her feet. She cut the chakra flowing to her eyes and narrowed the pale orbs at Sakura.

'That was really smart of her, to make sure that I can't use my Byakugan. But I am far from a one trick pony' thought Hinata

With the Kage:

"Such a simple yet effective tactic, she clearly was prepared for this young Hyuga." commented the Kazekage

A looked at the fight and was almost bored. This wasn't the high level fight that he was hoping for. The only thing interesting was that the Hyuga heiress seemed to be weaker than he thought to fall for such a trick. One that he would definitely be bring back to his village.

With the Jonin:

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he saw Sakura start to dictate the terms of the battle, forcing Hinata to handicap herself.

"Hinata was sure that someone would try that, so she was prepared for that" said Kurenai to Kakashi

Back with the fight:

Sakura was slower than Hinata, which is what she learned from that last volley of trading blows. Her elbow hurt from a blow that Hinata had managed to catch her with. It stung but her long sleeve managed to protect her from getting the chakra point closed there,

"You've come more prepared than anyone would give you credit for" panted Hinata and she had received her fair share of licks in the trading of blows.

"I can't afford to just let you run over me, not when I've worked so hard to get here" replied the panting Sakura.

Dropping a smoke bomb, Sakura jumped high in the air and channeled chakra into her fist and tried to blast Hinata.

She was almost successful until she realized that Hinata had her Byakugan activated and was spinning.

"Rotation" said Hinata as she used the Hyuga clan jutsu to blast Sakura away. Upon her finishing the spinning required for the jutsu, she was met with 3 Sakuras running at her. Ignoring the urge to attack as one of the Sakuras approached her, Hinata noticed that Sakura in the back was charging up her wrist seal again, the one that would release the chakra flare again.

Smirking, Hinata made a single ram hand sign and said "Hyuga Art: Shadow Vision Jutsu" and proceeded to rush Sakura.

The Kage Box:

"I have never heard of this Jutsu before" commented the Kazekage

"Neither have I" added the Raikage

"Well, the next generations is always set to surpass the current one. You haven't heard of it, because she created it herself." replied Hiruzen with a big smile on his face, one that shone with pride.

With the Hyuga in the stands:

Hiashi gasped in shock at the Jutsu that his daughter used, it was not one that he thought was possible. Hanabi picked up on that and looked questioning at her father.

"Hanabi, watch carefully. This is a Jutsu that was only a theory before today." said Hiashi as he activated his Byakugan.

"What is so special Father?" asked the young girl

"This is a jutsu that is supposed to cover all of our weaknesses of our eyes to surprise attacks. It inverts any flashes of light like that chakra flare down there without changing anything else."

Back in the Arena

Sakura was shocked in more ways than one, Hinata should be crying in pain. But she wasn't. Sakura was supposed to be the one to push the attack and be hitting Hinata. But she wasn't. Sakura was the one who was supposed to win, but she didn't.

Hinata had struck hard and fast, all 64 palms had hit and Sakura didn't really have any strength left in her body. Her chakra sealed off, her plan was solid but failed.

"Winner, Hinata Hyuga" exclaimed the judge, before he said "The next fight will begin in 5 minutes. Will Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee both make their ways down here."

With the Kage:

"I believe that she should get promoted, she lost but her plan was solid." said the Raikage

"Hmm, I think she should be given a trial period first before any formal promotion is given. She performed fairly well, but the fight was barely 3 minutes long. She was prepared but she didn't believe that her opponent would make any adjustments to the handicap that she created with the flare. She didn't have the chance to go to her back up plan, if she had one" added the Kazekage

Hiruzen looked at Sakura get carried of the arena and said, "This will definitely be hard to judge, but that is to be decided later. My council and I will be sure to go over this fight very carefully."

Back in the Arena:

Sasuke stood across from Rock Lee, his face emotionless.

"Begin"

There was no delay in the fight this time, Rock Lee rushed Sasuke. Sasuke ducked under a punch and was forced to block a knee to the stomach. He didn't avoided the elbow to the shoulder, but managed to get his hands up in time to contest the kick to the face.

It didn't even slow the kick down, it tore right through his guard and sledgehammered right into his face, sending him flying back. Landing on his feet again the wall, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked at Rock Lee.

Rushing at Rock Lee, the two met and began a purely Taijutsu display. There was slight difference now, Sasuke still wasn't able to land a blow on Lee, but Lee wasn't able to land any blows either. It was like a middle school dance, they were moving around each other but never touching.

Snarling, Sasuke allowed some chakra to flow through his arm and he released a small yapping bolt of lightning.

Lee yelped as he was forced to backpedal to avoid the electric based attack. Looking up in to the crowd, Lee got the go ahead from Gai to release the weights. Jumping back, Lee dug into his leg warmers and pulled out twin weights.

"Like losing a few pounds would give you any advantage" said Sasuke as Rock Lee let them drop to the ground.

 _ **BOOOOOM!**_

Sasuke watched in horror as Rock Lee was suddenly several hundreds of pounds lighter. Kakashi just signed in the stands as Gai gave him a cheery smile. Rock Lee smiled brightly as well before planting his fist into the soft tissue that was Sasuke's nose.

With a soft crack, Sasuke was sent flying backwards only for Rock Lee to race to the spot where Sasuke should have landed only to send the Uchiha heir skywards with another kick. Racing up the wall, Rock Lee was surprised to find that the Sasuke that he was about to strike simply faded from view.

Rock Lee landed and looked around, trapped in the Genjustu world that Sasuke had created. Sasuke stood on the arena wall, blood dripping down his face which was already swelling. He was panting heavily, Rock Lee was kicking the living shit out of him.

With the Kage:

"I like this kid, he's fast. Like really fast, can I buy him Hokage-Dono" said the Raikage with stars in his eyes

"Um, no" replied a confused Hiruzen

Back with the plot:

Sasuke pulled a roll of tags and attached them to Kunai and started tossing them around Rock Lee.

Rock Lee must have realized what was going on because he bit down on his lip hard enough to dawn blood and saw the mass of kunai around him. Sasuke made a hand sign and Rock Lee was forced to his knees.

The many tags attached to the many kunai were glowing a deep blow and Rock Lee was looking at the tags in shock.

"G Gravity s seals, w wh wher did you learn t this" gasped Rock Lee, every cell of his body being slowly forced towards the ground.

Sasuke didn't reply but throw more seals, hoping to force Rock Lee to give up.

"G g Gai s s sensei, p p p pl ease f forgive me" said Rock Lee as he focused said "Gate of Opening, **OPEN!** "

Rock Lee started to slowly get to his feet, causing Sasuke to groan.

" **GATE OF R** -" said Rock Lee before Sasuke slammed the hilt of a Kunai into the back of his head, unwilling to figure out what these gate could do.

"Sasuke wins"

With the Jonin:

Gai was on his knees crying greatly " don't understand" Which was a little sad but also very funny to see such an elite Jonin cry like a baby.

Kakashi patted him on the head and said "Gai, Sasuke just won the common sense battle. He could have let Rock Lee unleash 4 or 5 gates and win. Or he could do as I told him, let Rock Lee power up and I would show him my full power."

Kurenai snorted and Asuma laughed as Gai continued to cry that it was unfair.

Back on the Arena

"The next fight is Shino vs Kankuro"

"I quit" yelled Kankuro from the waiting area

"Fine, next fight is Temari vs Shikamaru"

( **A/N: went like canon)**

"Proctor I give up. I could continue this fight and move on, but I barely have the chakra needed to finish this fight and wouldn't have enough for the next fight." said Shikamaru as he raised his hand and surrendered.

"Next fight, Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara of the Sand"

In a blink, both Naruto and Gaara were standing on the fighting grounds. Naruto standing tall and proud, his power flowing off his body in waves. Gaara stood calm and collected while screaming for blood on the inside.

With the Kage:

"Finally, the fight that I have been waiting for. The son of the 4th Hokage facing off against the son of the 4th Kazekage." said the Raikage

"Yes, this will be quite the showdown." commented the Kazekage as his eyes trained on the form of Naruto

"Is that why you came A? To see the son of the 4th? What about your Genin down there?" questioned Hiruzen with narrowed eyes.

"I have come to see the best fight and that blond brat down there is said to be a hidden gem" replied A carelessly.

With the Jonin:

"So does anyone want to place a bet?" asked Kakashi

"Yeah, give me 1000 on 7" said Anko pulling out a wad of cash.

"7? give me 800 on 13" replied a generic Jonin.

"I got 5000 on 3" said Kakashi as he pulled out some cash from his back pouch.

"wait a minute, what are we talking about?" asked Kurenai as she looked at another Jonin round up the money.

"We are betting on how long it is going to take Naruto to win. I got 3 minutes and under. Anko is saying that it is going to take 7 minutes, and Hyka is saying 13 minutes." answered Kakashi

"I got 10000 on Naruto losing in 12 minutes" said Asuma

Kakashi blinked while his head in confusion, "Umm, sure. I guess we can split this money evenly amound us guys" he finished to the people betting on Naruto.

"Um, I got 2500 on Naruto in exactly 8 minutes and 31 seconds" said Kurenai as she looked down at Naruto who was simply staring at Gaara.

Down at the fight:

"You know the rules, begin" said the proctor before he lept away.

The cork to his gourd popped out and shot itself at Naruto. Naruto caught it and smiled before supercharging his hand with fire chakra and turned the sand cork into a glass orb and launched it back at Gaara. As expected, the sand from the gourd jumped without prompting to protect Gaara.

"Mother and I can't wait to spill your blood" said Gaara as he made a face that looked like he needed to poop.

"I don't give a fuck what you or your mom wants" said Naruto as he dismissed the crazy rambling of Gaara

"You will not disrespect my mother like that Uzumaki" snarled Gaara as his chakra level exploded through the roof as his anger picked up.

Naruto made a face and said "What mother? You mean that stupid ass raccoon dog that was sealed so half assed into you that it has two paws in your body and two paws out of your body."

Gaara roared in anger and all of the sand around the arena began to shift, moving up and down and shaking side to side. Naruto flared his chakra and blew the sand away from his immediate body. Looking at Gaara as he slowly let more and more chakra from his Bijuu leak out from his body, Naruto wasn't worried.

Taking a deep breathe, Naruto unleashed his chakra, allowing his chakra level to match the level of chakra that the Bijuu inside of Gaara was putting out.

"Aye Naruto, it's already been like 25 seconds, get your head out of your ass and get a move on it, I put good money on you to get this done in 3 minutes." yelled Kakashi from the stands. Naruto nodded and then all hell broke loose.

 **A/N: What is up guys. I have returned like a bounced check refund. Taken way more time that said and not quite what you were expecting. I will be the first to admit, this chapter is very eh. Could it be better? Yes. Could it be worse? Not really it is pretty bland as is.**

 **This is unseasoned chicken, very bland because I know this chapter lacks details. I skipped that round of fights in between the 2** **nd** **and the 3** **rd** **rounds. I changed who made it to the finals, because I have changed quite a bit actually. I have a confident Hinata who is lowkey bad ass, easily twice as good as the chunnin exam Hinata. Sakura is stronger than before, but she isn't the tank that she turns into later on in the series. She hasn't received the training from Tsunade to become that nearly Kage level that she ends up being.**

 **Sasuke is smarter, there is a lack of Vegeta in him. He isn't going to let Rock Lee just unleash the gates, he had him under 5 times gravity and he was starting to beat it. Common mother fudging sense says knock him the fuxk out, don't let him get stronger.**

 **The Raikage and Yugito are both here, they were not here last time. They could be important or just something to make you guys think that they are, whose to say. Oooh yeah, me.**

 **So, if there is any questions that you have, feel free to slide in my PMs for them. If you are one of those asshole guest, I hope you wake up and stub your right pinky toe every day for the rest of your life. If you are the nice guests, I hope you get to watch the asshole guests stub their toes.**

 **Until Next time, the Mars of Key Highness out, peace.**


	12. Update August 7th 2019

The only story that i will be working on in the immediate future is Agent Whiskers of Shield. Stuck on Red and If i could i wood are both on hold for at least 5 months, sorry to any fans of those stories. have a great day


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: This entire chapter is dedicate to the user: Yuki Riki who left this review " Continue this one please o_O)" which was so cute that I couldn't say no.**

Naruto ducked under a wave of sand and raced forward, his fist slamming into a wall of sand that popped up to protect Gaara's face. Naruto grit his teeth as the wall of sand exploded into a mass of sand spikes.

Ignoring the already healing cuts, Naruto's hands glowed orange as they became covered in flames before he dash forward in attack once again. The sand wall sprung up at the same time that it had last time, but this time Naruto's hands slashed right through the sand without issue. Gaara's eyes widen as he was meet with a burning fist that slammed into his face and set him skidding backwards.

Rubbing his damaged face, Gaara's mouth stretched into an insane smile that nearly went from ear to ear.

Gaara let out a purring noise and said "Is this all you have Uzumaki? I expected more, I need more. Make me feel alive so that when I grind your bones to dust and feed your blood to mother, I will be rewarded with the feeling of being alive"

Naruto shivered in disgust and blurred away, his foot clipping Gaara's head, sending the red haired sand shinobi crashing into the arena wall. Naruto followed that up with a flaming fist to the stomach of Gaara before sighing as the figure just continued that creepy smile.

"When did you have time to switch out with a sand clone?" asked Naruto as the form of Gaara he had punch dissolved into sand and rising out of the ground behind him was the real Gaara, his right cheek slightly burned but otherwise fine.

"When you first made contact with my face. I needed to see if you would be a worthy challenge" snarled Gaara as Naruto turned around to face the younger red head.

Taking a deep breathe, Naruto flared his chakra and pushed the sand that had tried to pool around his feet away before he rushed forward and bullied his way through another wall of sand. Pulling back his right hand, Naruto started to spin chakra in it, condensing the massive tornado of chakra into a palm sized orb before slamming that into the stomach of Gaara.

The attack hit Gaara and shredded straight through his sand armor and into the soft flesh of Gaara. The chakra exploded and sent Gaara flying backwards, this time crashing into a tree.

When the flash caused by the exploding orb of Chakra disappeared, Gaara was a bloody mess, his shirt destroyed as his torso was shown to be ripped apart in a spiral design.

"Winner by Knock out is Naruto Uzumaki" said the announcer after checking on the status of the red head before calling the medics.

In the Kage Box:

The Kazekage was staring down at the field, watching Naruto stand looking at Gaara, with a grim look on his face.

"You need to evacuate the people, Lord Hokage" said the leader of the Hidden Sand Village

"Why? Because your son lost" taunted A

"No, because Shukaku doesn't allow my son to sleep. If Gaara lowers his guard for a single second, the sand spirit takes over" responded the Kazekage in a cold tone

"And you brought him to a Chunin exam, what the fuck" yelled A, his muscles bulging with anger

Back on the field:

Naruto looked the crowd before his sense told him that there was danger. He looked at the shaking body of Gaara and jumped back. Sand was being pulled toward the body of Gaara from all over the arena. There was a pause before the sand erupted upwards and Naruto narrowed his eyes as the sand started to take some from.

" **Ah, the form of Shukaku. The weakest of us Bijuu. Two tails of my power would be more than enough to crush this puny weakling."** whispered the Kyuubi in the back of Naruto's mind but Naruto ignored the towering multi-tailed fox

Jumping onto the wall of Arena, Naruto grit his teeth as Gaara unleashed the power of his tailed beast. Summoning a pair of clones, Naruto raised his right hand as his clones poured chakra in his hand, a massive swirling 4 pointed ball of chakra, that whistled loudly every second after it was completed.

With the Jonin:

Kakashi's jaw was on the ground, Kurenai's eyes were wide in shock, Might Gai was screaming about Naruto's youthfulness, Asuma's smoke stick had fallen out of his mouth, and Anko's head had fallen on. OK, so maybe that last one didn't happen.

"H … he com … completed the Rasengan" stammered Kakashi, his hand pulling up his headband to reveal that he couldn't count the number of individual wind blades that made up the shuriken shaped rasengan.

"How did a brat like that surpass the fourth Hokage's Jutsu?" questioned Asuma

"Sons are supposed to outdo their old man Asuma" answered Kakashi before looked the younger Sarutobi and continued to say "But they do sometimes fall short of the shadow cast over them"

The bearded Jonin ignored the jab at his abilities compared to his fathers and just watched the fight.

Back in the Arena:

The massive wind styled rasengan held overhead, Naruto could only wait and watch as the form of the Shukaku finished forming.

" **HA HA HA HA LOOK AT ME, OUT IN THE OPEN AND FREE. THE ONE AND ONLY GREAT SHUKUKA AND WHO MIGHT BE THE TINY YOU?"** came the insane rambling of the sand spirit.

Naruto didn't answer as Shukaku twitched his fingers and spikes of sand launched at him from all directions. Climbing up the wall, Naruto avoided the spikes and used the wall to push off and propel himself into the large torso of the sand demon.

 _Wind Style: RasenShuriken_

Naruto's jutsu hit the form of Shukaku in the stomach and Naruto cried out in pain as the backlash of the wind chakra sliced into his right wrist tissue before he was blasted backwards into the arena wall that he had just jumped off of.

Naruto stuck to the wall with chakra and watched as a massive dome of slicing wind chakra ripped apart the sand construct that Shukaku was using for his body. Hissing in pain, Naruto tried to reach for a kunai with his right hand only to be met with jolting pain. Shaking his head in disbelief, Naruto pulled out the kunai with his left hand and slapped an explosive note to it before launching the kunai into the dome of wind,

The tag denonated and Naruto watched as the massive body of sand was consumed by a fiery ball of white flames that felt like it was leaving blisters on Naruto's skin even from this distance. The flames ended and Naruto could see Gaara covered in a super tight ball of sand inside of a massive glass body.

Jumping from the wall, Naruto slammed through the glass body and into the ball of sand sending it crashing into the ground.

The ball of sand collapsed upon crashing into the ground and a very scared Gaara looked at the Naruto holding his right wrist that was slowly walking towards him.

"Give up, you pull some shit like that again, I don't hold back" said Naruto

Gaara simply dropped his head and closed his eyes, the medics being allowed to take him off the field. Well, that was the plan any way, they were sliced in half by a man in a black cloak with red clouds on it. His right hand having the kunai still dripping with the blood. Said man had appeared out of nowhere, he also wore an orange spiral mask that was heavily scratched up from the looks of it.

"Ah, nothing like the smell of death in the morning" said the man in a haunty voice, his voice carrying to everyone in the stands

He reached down and grabbed the form of Gaara, the knocked out red head putting up zero resistance.

"So, I know you might be thinking what a I doing here, it the middle of you watching a 17 year old Demi-God beating up a bunch of 13 and 14 year olds. But I have something to say" said the masked man as he lifted Gaara's body by the neck.

"There is a specific kind of Shinobi that are more powerful in the world, they are far and few in between. Between 1 and 9 are in rotation at any period of time. They are called jinchuriki, tailed beast forcibly sealed into babies so that their villages can use them as unstoppable forces of nature. Gaara here is the host for Shukaku, the sand being that you just saw. The Raikage brought brought his own jinchuriki, Yugito is the host for the two tailed cat. Naruto before you is the host of the Kyuubi, the strongest of the Bijuu."

Naruto blurred behind the man and tried to kick the man, but to his surprise and confusion, his foot just went straight through the man's body.

"What the hell, who are you?" questioned Naruto, trying to figure out why his attack would fail to have any effect on the masked man before him,

"Ah yes, thank you Naruto for bringing me to my purpose for being here today. The group known as Akatsuki is done hiding in the shadows. We've managed to capture the 3, 4,5,6, and 7 tailed beasts. Naruto here has just gift wrapped me the one tailed beast" said the Masked Man before he looked off to the left and out of the ground morphed a green man in the same black cloak with red clouds, holding Yugito over his shoulder, her body covered in seals.

"And would you look at that? My associate has subdued the 2 tails as well. We only need the 8 and the 9 tails left. Don't worry good people of Konoha, Naruto will be the last person that we need to capture." said the masked man before he rubbed his chin and pointed towards the sky.

"I almost forgot my name, my name is Madara Uchiha and this is the beginning of the 4th Great Shinobi war. You never stood a chance, the Akatsuki way is the only way. As my friend says "You shall all know Pain" said "Madara Uchiha" before he disappeared in a whirling void along with Gaara and Yugito, his associate sinking back into the ground.

Naruto struggled to understand what just happened, the man came in here, grabbed Gaara and Yugito before disappearing. He claimed to have caught 7 of the other jinchuriki and that meant that Killer Bee was next, but Bee wasn't just some normal jinchuriki, the rapping jinchuriki was easily Kage level.

"Hmm, Madara did as asked. Perfect" said a booming voice from above the arena causing everyone to leave.

There was a floating man who had bright orange hair and a bunch of piercings. He too wore the same black cloak with red clouds.

"My name is Pein and I am the leader of Akatsuki. For years, we have been forced to live in the shadows and to the whims of the 5 Great Shinobi villages, but that is no longer the case. In fact, there has never been the start of any way without a great firing shot. Allow me to give you a dose of our pain" said the man named Pein before he extended his hands outwards.

"Almighty Push"

Naruto could only watch in horror as the arena was sent crumbling to the ground around him, but as the stands of the arena collapsed, the effects of this all powerful Jutsu did not end. It continued outwards until it hit the rest of the village, Naruto sat in the one spot uneffected by the jutsu, the rest of the village being a smoking crater.

In the span of a couple of minutes, Naruto went from being a Bijuu to standing in middle of his destroyed Village.

"Remember that pain Uzumaki, I want to see it when I rip the Kyuubi out of your body" said the floating man as he sunk with gravity closer to the ground, his rippling purple eyes causing Naruto and the Kyuubi inside of him to feel a pit of fear in their stomachs before the man disappeared in a burst of smoke.

 **A/N: Quick little chapter to let you know that I haven't forgotten about yall. So if you are wondering why the Akatsuki would be putting their plan into action now. It is quite simple, they're still operating on their original time line, Naruto is 17. They are making their move at the same time as they did in canon, after they caught all of the Bijuu they needed to before they needed to catch Naruto.**

 **So that's all I got for yall today, any questions feel free to leave it in a review, PM me, or hit me up on twitter, my handle is HKM_FF. Have a great day.**


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